


YIFOtober (aka hurting mario characters month)

by ReganingRainyRain



Series: yet I fight on [2]
Category: Luigi's Mansion (Video Games), Super Mario & Related Fandoms
Genre: Accidents, Alcohol, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ambushes and Sneak Attacks, Amnesia, Angst with a Happy Ending, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Autistic Character, Bad Weather, Begging, Being Lost, Blindness, Blizzards & Snowstorms, Blood and Injury, Broken Bones, Bullying, Character Death, Cold Weather, Disabled Character, Electrocution, Emotional Manipulation, Escape, Eye Trauma, Fire, Foster Care, Frostbite, Gen, Graphic Depictions of Illness, Gun Violence, Guns, Hallucinations, Head Injury, Hiding Medical Issues, Hurt/Comfort, Hypothermia, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I wrote this instead of doing my homework, IV Feeding, Illnesses, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Imprisonment, Infection, Injury, Isolation, Kidnapping, M/M, Machines, Magic, Major Character Injury, Major Illness, Manipulation, Medical Procedures, Natural Disasters, Neglect, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Panic Attacks, Paranoia, Past Drug Use, Peer Pressure, Pneumonia, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Psychosis, Public Humiliation, Public Torture, Punishment, References to Drugs, Reminiscing, Rescue, Robbery, Scars, Sensory Deprivation, Shooting, Starvation, Threats of Violence, Torture, Unnatural Weather, Weather, Whipping, Whump, Whumptober, Whumptober 2020, amnesiac king boo, autistic bowser, child food poverty, dyslexic character, dyslexic king boo, except not really because king boo is A DICK, for the last part at least, it's temporary dw, no beta we die like boos, sepsis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-01
Updated: 2020-11-03
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:47:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 32
Words: 30,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26758228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReganingRainyRain/pseuds/ReganingRainyRain
Summary: Whumptober 2020, but it's all with Mario-verse characters, and all those Mario-verse characters are AU-ified. Completely for fun. I'm so sorry, Luigi.
Relationships: Koopa | Bowser & Luigi (Nintendo), Luigi & Mario (Nintendo), Luigi & Peach-hime | Peach Toadstool, Luigi & Waluigi (Nintendo), None of these are ships, Princess Daisy & Luigi, except one mystery ship which I'M NOT TELLING YOU ABOUT :), no space for ships, too much whump
Series: yet I fight on [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1863433
Comments: 74
Kudos: 57





	1. Waking Up Restrained

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, before we start: I have no idea what possessed me to do this. I just want to warn you that there may be references to things you do not understand, because I have not written them into the main story yet. Just sit back and enjoy the angst. Also, there WILL be spoilers for the YIFO series, or events linking to it, in (probably) every chapter, so if by some miracle you got really into it, I'm sorry.
> 
> I made this entirely for fun. No hate!

Luigi had only had one drink. Apparently, he realised as he stirred awake, that had been enough.

They’d been celebrating something, or maybe they hadn’t, he couldn’t quite remember. Whatever they’d been doing had been a cause for alcohol, and even as he was taking the first sip Luigi knew that something was wrong.

He’d passed out very quickly, so quickly he’d never had a chance to tell anyone, or maybe they’d been drugged too. Whoever had spiked his drink had used something extremely strong, so they’d probably known about his paranoia regarding… everything, or maybe they were just terrible at drugging people – if he’d drank all of that, he would have either gone into a coma or died of overdose.

He counted out a list of questions in his still-sleepy mind. The ‘what’ and the ‘how’ were both clear. Someone had slipped a strong drug into his drink. Where and when, he had no idea yet. Which left the tough questions. The ‘why’ could have been many things. Kidnapping, ransom, torture, revenge, something else… he decided he would stop thinking about ‘why’ and move onto ‘who’.

His brother had been at the party, but as much as the two hated each other, Luigi severely doubted that Mario would ever drug him and then chain him up in some dingy-looking room.

_One thing at a time, Luigi._

He’d look around the room in a minute.

Princess Peach? Unlikely that she’d jeopardise her own source of political help, and she definitely wouldn’t have a place like this. Bowser, absolutely not. Wario and Waluigi had also been there, but there wasn’t really much point in considering them, as he was as much of a friend as one could really get to those two.

Boos? Some Boos from the Boo diasporas in the Mushroom and Koopa kingdoms had been there, but they were diasporas for a reason. Unaffiliated with the one person he could really consider being the culprit – King Boo. Unless it was someone new, or some other villain, like Dimentio, had come back from the dead, but he really didn’t want to consider that possibility.

Initial questions resolved to the best of his ability, Luigi slowly let himself take more notice of his body and surroundings. He’d already known he was tied up, but it was worse than he thought – metal chains, gone slightly rusty, were wrapped around his body, tying him to a metal beam that stretched from the ceiling to the floor. His hands and feet were also separately cuffed to the beam, and for some reason the kidnapper had removed his shirt. Great, that opened up a whole host of options that he _really_ didn’t want to think about.

He tugged against the bindings experimentally. Nothing gave, and he stopped; he really didn’t want to cut himself against these. They looked like they’d never been washed. Did this kidnapper want him to die slowly of tetanus? Actually, scratch that, he could think of a few people who would want him to die like that. Too bad for them.

This person knew their stuff. It didn’t seem like Luigi would be able to get out of here by himself. All he could really do was wait for someone to come into the room – which looked like some kind of torture basement, if a torture basement had no lights and some sort of disgusting mould on the walls – so he could figure out what the hell was going on.

He waited. And waited.

And waited.

He was starting to fall back asleep when the door abruptly screeched open, startling him out of his stupor. He hadn’t heard any footsteps, so either his kidnapper was incredibly quiet, or it was-

“Hello, Luigi,” King Boo said as he glided in, that annoyingly gloating smirk on his face. As the primal terror that came with the ghost’s presence welled up in his throat, Luigi wanted to scream. Or fight, or do anything really except stand here. Instead, he said the first thing that came to his mind.

“Why’d you open the door? You’re a ghost. You don’t need to open doors.”

King Boo’s smirk fell into an ‘are you serious’ expression. “Of all the things you could ask. Why you’re here, or what I’m planning to do to you – which you should be concerned about – you ask why I opened the door? Is that screeching sound really so unnoticeable?”

_Oh, you annoyed him. Good going, Luigi._

“Fair enough,” he replied, trying not to let his voice shake. “Where’s the painting?”

A pause. Then, “Nowhere.”

King Boo had been near the door, but in a flash he was right up against Luigi’s face. Luigi screamed and tried to jerk away, but the chains still didn’t budge, and he hissed as he felt the rougher parts of the metal pierce his skin and the beam slam into his head.

He looked up into King Boo’s violet eyes and-

Oh no.

“It’s nowhere, you see,” King Boo half-screamed at him, his eyes shining with something broken, something _insane,_ and Luigi all but sliced his wrists open on the cuffs as they jerked towards his ears- “because it’s just not good enough anymore, you need something worse. All those times you trapped me in paintings, now that it’s finally my turn again you’re going to get something you won’t be able to predict. No one will come to save you. No one even knows you’re gone.”

King Boo floated backwards slightly, and Luigi allowed himself to slump forward in the chains, _absolutely not_ shaking and _absolutely not_ crying slightly from the terror which _didn’t even make sense, he wasn’t hurting you so why are you crying, Luigi, why?_

Dimly, he registered that King Boo was licking the tears from his face. “You should save those for later,” he heard the echoing voice ~~order~~ say. “Trust me, it will get much worse than this.”

He was gone by the time Luigi looked up.

Luigi was left painfully aware of how freezing it was in the room, combined with the disgusting feelings of the saliva on his face and the blood trickling down his torso which he couldn’t even reach down to clean ( ~~at least when he was in the painting his hands were free to wipe away the disgusting fluid)~~. Who knew how many particles of rust and metal were getting inside the wounds?

He was definitely going to need a tetanus jab ~~if~~ when he got out of here.

_Will you get out of here?_


	2. Kidnapped

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mario's foolishness costs him dearly.
> 
> He can't say that he was given no warning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Your daily reminder that this is AU-ified, and there are probably references that you won't understand, and I am doing this for fun.
> 
> Okay, enjoy!
> 
> (wow, can you believe I'm actually updating this?)

In hindsight, Mario had had more than a few warnings. The first was the fact that the mansion was in the middle of Boo Woods, of all places.

The second warning came when he had actually reached the site where the mansion was supposed to be, and had found himself gazing upon what was, indeed, a mansion – one that looked like it was about to fall apart. Later, he’d fully blame himself for not just leaving immediately, but he really wanted to prove Luigi wrong.

_“I don’t know, Mario. This letter looks like a trap. I mean, K.B Industries? Don’t those sound like the initials of someone I’ve met before?”_

Of course, he’d laughed it off in his usual overconfident way, called Luigi a fucking coward, and then hung up the phone before his brother could pester him anymore.

The third warning was the way the door had creaked when he’d pushed it open. Definitely not the type of place you’d want to win in a competition… raffle… whatever the hell this was. He could probably count the dusty interior in that one as well, and the fact that the chandelier damn near _collapsed_ on him before lifting itself back up?

He should have left right then, but he wanted to believe that Luigi was wrong.

_~~Just like you wanted to believe that you didn’t leave him behind.~~ _

“He’s just being a coward,” Mario had said out loud. “Just needs to be cleaned up a bit.”

His fourth and final warning were the giggles that emanated from the walls in response. After that, he decided _‘screw this, I’m leaving’_ and turned only to be punched in the face.

He crashed straight into one of the doors, the knob hitting his back harshly and robbing him of the ability to stop himself from sliding to the floor, defeated so easily. He lifted his head up and wow, he could not believe that he’d just walked into a haunted mansion and completely ignored all the signs.

A small cloud of Boos floated in front of him, giggling and taunting as he sat there, struggling to grab the offending doorknob and pull himself to his feet. One of the larger ones floated towards him, and he braced for more assault.

Instead, it spoke to him in a deep voice that felt like it was worming into his brain. “Our King has requested your presence in our lovely mansion.”

“Requested,” Mario spat, finally dragging himself to his feet, “or ordered?”

It grinned at him. “Whatever term you would prefer to use, though we would prefer that you remain there and… wait for his arrival.”

“That’s unfortunate, because I don’t care,” Mario replied, and charged straight at them.

He passed right through the cloud, running for the door, the door which was locked and would not open. The cloud descended on him from behind, and then it was laying into him as he swung wildly to get it off, it was scratching and biting until he felt his clothes tear and the blood run down his back and purple spots faded into his vision to turn it black-

\------------

Mario groaned as he came to, blinking the purple spots out of his eyes. The stone floor beneath him was not cold like it should have been. He didn’t know there could be warnings after you’d been kidnapped, too.

He didn’t have to look around much to figure out where he was. A painting frame hung on one side of the wall, and there was a door on the opposite side, just like he’d heard Luigi furiously describe it in that one phone call which resulted in Mario having to get a new mobile. There hadn’t been another one since, until yesterday, when Luigi had called about the letters in their mailboxes telling them that Luigi had won a mansion.

In hindsight, the entire thing was a huge red flag.

“Comfortable?” he heard a voice say, and whirled around towards the painting frame. There floated the infamous King Boo in all his glory, a power gem resting upon his head. He looked just as intimidating as Luigi had described.

Mario dashed over to the painting frame and began to bang on that glass-like sheen that covered the painting – no, covered his escape to the outside world. Deep down, he remembered Luigi saying it was futile, but Luigi was wrong, so it didn’t matter.

“Let me the hell out of here!” he screamed.

King Boo seemed unfazed. “You’re going to break your knuckles at that rate. Now wouldn’t that be interesting to see,” he chuckled, the sound making Mario want to puke. “Clearly no one’s ever managed to kidnap you before. Luigi certainly didn’t try to escape this long.”

“Luigi’s a coward,” Mario spat, before smashing his fist against the damn glass again. “I’m not going to just stay in here quietly like him.”

“You will, soon enough,” the king said, floating around in a single figure-8 before leering at the painting again. “You’ve finally accepted the enormity of your actions, then?”

“I… I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Liar,” King Boo said, the word echoing around the chamber. “Do you think either of us have forgotten? No, your wilful ignorance is too intriguing. How much are you willing to ignore? What pain will you stubbornly endure to ‘prove Luigi wrong’?”

“Pain?”

“You can’t be that ignorant,” King Boo scoffed. “You saw the state of him. That is what you’ll look like when he comes for you.”

The first pang of fear in Mario’s chest coincided with the crackle of King Boo’s crown jewel. Once, twice, then on the third flash his vision turned white and there was only pain

coursing through his body.

“I wonder, though, whether he will come for you at all,” King Boo said, his voice dull as the first flash of pain began to fade away and another took its place, needles coursing through his bloodstream and tearing themselves through his skin.

“After what you did…”

he held back screams as his insides were run through by white-hot knives

“Leaving him with me was probably the cruellest thing you could do.”

head to toe, the needles pierced his brain

it felt like hours

dimly, he registered that someone was screaming.

“Do you really think he’ll come back for you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> daily apology to the mario characters


	3. Forced to their Knees

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luigi finds himself defeated. It wasn't exactly a fair fight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> daily reminder that this is AU-ified and there might be references to stuff you don't understand
> 
> also an apology for this being shorter than usual. i really ran outta time, and i couldn't think of anything, so just used an alternate version of a future YIFO chapter. i hope you like it
> 
> i'm sorry luigi

A soft giggle.

Luigi groaned and shifted in bed. It was nowhere near time to wake up, so he muttered something incomprehensible and closed his eyes.

They shot back open when a louder giggle echoed through the tiny room.

“…what was that?” Luigi grumbled, sitting up and rubbing his eyes, looking around the darkened room. “Am I hallucinating or something?” He reached sleepily for the flashlight beside his bed and clicked it on, shining it around. “Who’s there?” he said softly, careful not to wake the neighbours… if they were even there.

Another soft giggle from his left side. Luigi whirled the flashlight around, searching, but couldn’t find anything there. Another sound came from behind him and he shot off the bed, moving into the centre of the room as he shone the flashlight into every corner.

The giggles were getting louder.

Pain flashed sharply in his right arm and he dropped the flashlight, feeling the arm for injuries. His left hand came away wet, and he raised it to his mouth to gingerly taste the liquid. Metallic. Blood.

“What the hell?” he exclaimed, shifting a foot under the flashlight and kicking it back into his hand. “Who’s there?”

White circles spun into the visible plane and attacked him, something ripping his clothes and letting blood spill onto the floor. He hit out blindly with the flashlight, and noticed it seemed to ward some of them off. Shining it into wherever the hell their eyes were would have been a great move, but he was too disoriented to see. It was like a cloud had come over him, if clouds had knives and could giggle.

He dashed out of the cloud and towards the door. Spikes appeared on the doorknob as he put a hand on it, and he yelped, clutching the bleeding hand to his chest. In a last ditch escape attempt, he ran to the tiny window, only for it to become covered in those stupid spikes as well.

The only choice left was to fight, so Luigi gave it his all, swinging the light left and right, screaming at the top of his lungs and hoping that one of his neighbours would open the door to complain. But no one came. Normally they would have jumped at the chance to make a noise complaint. Something must have happened to them.

He fought valiantly, but was soon pushed into a corner, the clouds revealing themselves as Boos. Luigi cursed his bad luck. Boos were mischief-makers, terrifyingly malicious ghosts. And they had a lot of magical power. They’d certainly put some kind of spell on his neighbours.

His heart leapt into his throat as he realised that no one would come to save him. The fear he tried to keep hidden locking his limbs, allowing the Boos to advance on him further.

“Given up have we?” he heard one say.

“Good! That’ll make this way easier.”

“Not yet,” he growled, anger snapping past the fear, spurring him on to make one last futile charge.

The flashlight was torn away from him first. Appendages grasped it, ripped it from his hands, clicked it off, and then smashed it to pieces against his bed, the ghosts making little noises of satisfaction as his last defence was removed.

They made quick work of him after that. There were dozens of them; they pinned him down, forced him to his knees, and bit him whenever he tried to struggle.

“Go on,” one giggled. “Show some respect for our King, he’s about to arrive.”

“I don’t know who you’re talking about,” Luigi spat, “and I don’t see any of you kneeling.”

A lower-pitched laugh echoed throughout the room, and if the other Boos had made Luigi’s heart leap into his throat, this made it stop. “Of course they don’t. They’re not the ones who’ve just been defeated in battle.”

The King of Boos was much larger than his subjects. A red power gem glowed upon his head, slotted neatly into his crown. Dark shadows under his eyes would have signified ‘sleepy’ if he was human; as it was, they just made him look even more terrifying.

“I don’t think the defeated one is paying enough respect to the victor,” he said, and his subjects chirped in agreement as he summoned a painting frame. “That will be fixed in time.”

As the defeated, helpless Luigi looked upon the pocket dimension that would hold him prisoner, he almost wanted to say that he knew it wouldn’t.

Then again, he’d be lying. He didn’t know anything for certain anymore, except that he was completely at the mercy of wickedness.


	4. Running Out of Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luigi runs out of time. The consequences are most severe, especially when King Boo has lost the last of himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AU-ified, you know the drill.
> 
> I'm really, really sorry, Luigi. And literally everyone in the world. KB's lost it :/
> 
> ALSO THIS BIT'S REALLY IMPORTANT: huge thanks to ShanaRHager, whose Brother's Loyalty series was a huge inspiration for this chapter (and just to me in general), and has also left very lovely comments on these stories. try reading their stories. they're much better than mine, trust me.

“I’m sick to double death of you!”

Luigi’s grip on the Poltergust tightened as he shivered. His friends were trapped. His brother was trapped. And it was all the fault of the pissed-off ghost before him. He’d be giving his Polterpup the best dog treats money could buy for a month after this.

“You want to fight me? Fine! Let’s go, Luigi! This is the end for you, once and for all!”

There was no hesitation. Luigi and King Boo both leapt into the fray, King Boo starting off with charged-up lightning strikes that made Luigi freeze before reality kicked back in and he was able to dodge in time. Luigi tried flashing the Strobulb at the ghost, but like earlier, it had no effect. How powerful was this new gem? Normally he’d be hiding his face in his hands.

“Not this time,” King Boo snarled, as though reading his thoughts. “There’s nothing you can do to stop me this time, Luigi!”

“We’ll see about that,” Luigi shot back before focusing his attention back on the battle. King Boo’s face scrunched up in anger, and he began to lash his tongue out at Luigi, seemingly trying to flatten him. He got in a good few strikes, and Luigi was only able to curse the fragility of the Poltergust. This jerk would have been electrocuted a dozen times over, if it wasn’t for the possibility of the Poltergust short-circuiting.

The tongue swung across the rooftop like a jump rope, and Luigi used Burst to dodge. King Boo cursed in frustration before summoning giant balls of half-molten rock from his gem and hurling them at Luigi. They weren’t all that hard to dodge, so the next attack was produced – those spiked balls.

Luigi dodged the initial strike. The balls burst open to reveal bombs inside, and Luigi almost cheered as he dashed over, sucked one up, and fired it straight at King Boo’s mouth. He’d made his classic blunder; getting too overconfident and using an attack that could be turned against him.

The dazed King Boo floated to the floor, his tongue lolling out of his mouth. Luigi sucked the disgusting thing into the Poltergust before summoning the aid of Gooigi, who did the same. Together, they lifted the ghost up and slammed him all over the rooftop before he managed to escape the suction. Luigi shouted in frustration as he broke free – _should’ve known it wasn’t gonna be that easy._

King Boo appeared before him again, giggling and glowing before he split off a duplicate of himself. The attacks this time were significantly harder; the lightning attack being the exception. The tongues, however, were harder to predict and harder to dodge, and this time it wasn’t just a simple jump rope that signified the end of the attack, but two swirling tongues that Luigi had to time his ducks under. He was hit more than a few times by that one.

The half-molten rocks weren’t too bad, just a few extra ones, but they moved far slower than the Boos’ tongues, and were therefore easier to predict. The whole time, Luigi was pinpointing key differences between the two Boos in an effort to locate the real one, and noticed that one of them had two fangs instead of four.

_Gotcha._

The next spiked-ball attack, Luigi launched the bombs straight at the four-fanged Boo without hesitation. The duplicate vanished, and Gooigi joined him to make good use of the opportunity to slam King Boo all over the rooftop again, causing cracks in its surface to spread.

When he appeared back in his place, King Boo seemed utterly furious. “You ruin EVERYTHING!” he screamed at Luigi. “You’re NOT going to ruin this! All the effort I put into this will NOT GO TO WASTE!”

“If you didn’t want it to, you shouldn’t have tried to take away my bro,” Luigi spat. “I just got him back. I am not losing him again.”

“We’ll see about THAT,” the King parroted, creating two extra duplicates of himself – but then his gem glowed again, and the portrait floating behind him turned those swirling colours. And grew, and grew, and GREW. And started to float down towards the hotel.

“You’re out of your mind!” Luigi screamed. “You’ll consume this whole place, and yourself!”

“I couldn’t care less about this damned place,” King Boo screeched back at him. “All I care about is making you PAY.”

Luigi drew a breath. He was going to need all the strength he had to get past this.

Every attack was hard now. The lightning attack only gave him one tiny spot of mercy, and he was struck multiple times, each strike only reminding him of the time he spent as the King’s captive. But instead of driving him onward, the memories hindered him; made him freeze where he should have moved. He was hit too many times to be good for him by the tongue attack, which was absurdly impossible to dodge, and even the rocks were challenging this time around.

What was even worse; the portrait was accelerating towards the hotel at a frightening speed. Luigi was utterly disoriented; the flashbacks combined with the triple King Boos and the distracting portrait frame made him miss every single bomb shot he made.

The final straw was a last tongue strike from one of the duplicates. Luigi fell to the ground for the last time, his hands shaking under him and unable to push him back up. He screamed in pain as one of the massive tongues came down on his back, crushing the Poltergust to little bits and piercing it into his skin.

“No… no… I can’t give up now…” Luigi groaned, placing one hand on the floor and pushing himself over into a sitting position. He moved his legs to stand up.

Nothing happened. His legs weren’t responding.

He couldn’t feel his legs. He touched them. No sensation. He moved his hand up his body – nothing until his waist.

He was _paralysed._

From the look of horror on Luigi’s face, King Boo must have realised what he’d done, because he started giggling again, that horrible laugh that made what was left of Luigi’s spine shiver. “Well now, that is a pity,” he said, floating down to Luigi’s level as he tried to drag himself away.

His eyes flashed to something behind Luigi, and the gem abruptly glowed, throwing something liquid off the rooftop. “Your gooey friend won’t be coming to help you anytime soon,” he gloated, amethyst eyes meeting Luigi’s. Luigi shivered and looked away.

“After all this time… after so many defeats, I finally have you,” he laughed, tongue lolling out and licking his face. Luigi hadn’t even realised he’d been crying.

“Unfortunately, you have run out of time,” King Boo said, looking behind him. “The portrait will consume this hotel, and most importantly, it will consume you. Don’t be scared,” he cooed, licking down Luigi’s terrified face. “It won’t be that bad.”

Then he flew back to a safe distance, and watched almost everything Luigi had ever loved – his friends, his brother, his pet, be trapped forever in the painting as Luigi screamed.

He shrunk the painting, moved it to his arms, and grinned in satisfaction. Then turned to the direction he knew the Koopa and Mushroom Kingdoms were.

Wouldn’t it be great to make Luigi watch it all burn?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, just in case you didn't see it, go back up to the top and read those notes again! Oi, don't yell at me, I'm just making sure you saw the amazing creator who inspired this chapter.


	5. Where Do You Think You're Going?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luigi makes a break for it down the corridor in the Last Resort, but this time, there is no escape.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obligatory 'AU-ified, references you may not understand, I'm so sorry Luigi'
> 
> i wrote this instead of doing my politics homework, enjoy

“AAAAHHHH!”

Luigi shot up in bed at the sound. Princess Peach had screamed? What was going on?

From how dark the room was, it was clearly the middle of the night. Luigi really wanted to go back to sleep, and half of his brain was telling him that she’d probably just had a nightmare. The other half reminded him of the fears he’d been having as soon as he received the invitation to this place, telling him _it won’t hurt to check, she won’t mind, you’re only trying to keep everyone safe,_ so Luigi reluctantly slid out of bed, grabbed his flashlight, and donned his slippers.

His eyes began to adjust, and he started to notice some strange things about his room. The balloons from earlier had changed from happy faces to scary ones, and when he nudged the closet – and even the toilet – out of curiosity, he was met with a sharp claw rushing straight at his face!

“Ooookay, nice Hallowe’en prank, but that could’ve taken out my eye… or my ass,” Luigi grumbled. “Good thing I didn’t actually try to use the toilet…”

Everything seemed off. The room was dusty. The atmosphere was stifling. Luigi felt much more awake now, so he decided to venture out of the room, and gasped in shock at the sight.

The corridor was still warmly lit… well, most of it was. But the warmth had been nothing more than an illusion that was now fading from sight and showing the hotel’s true colours – darkness and dust. Luigi set off down the corridor, fearing the worst.

He peered into Mario’s room and immediately noticed several things wrong. In the short time he’d spent reconciling with his brother, he’d realised that Mario loved to eat, and especially loved to eat pizza. He’d never leave a slice unfinished, so why was there an unfinished pizza box on the floor?

His luggage and bedsheets were all over the place too; clear signs of a struggle. There was no doubt left in Luigi’s mind that something was wrong.

“Mario?” he called, just to make sure. No response.

He left Mario’s room and moved onto Peach’s. Her room was just as bad; open suitcases and clothes littered the floor, the lamp had been shattered, and there was no sign of her anywhere. Calling for her yielded no response, so he just cursed his grogginess – if he’d been faster, maybe he could have helped – and moved on.

He was planning on checking the Toads’ rooms next, but found an immovable and unclimbable pile of luggage in the way, so decided to try the elevator instead.

It opened as soon as he took a step towards it. The hotel owner, Hellen Gravely, glided out of it, but her skin, her entire body, was glowing and emitting paranormal energy, and her sunglasses were off, revealing yellow eyes that were most certainly not human.

“I knew it,” Luigi muttered. “I knew there was something wrong with this place.”

Unexpectedly, she moved to float directly in front of him. “Well well well!” she said, grinning at him. “If it isn’t my most esteemed VIP! I was just on my way to see you. Is your room living up to your expectations? Doesn’t it SCREAM good taste?”

“Yeah, about that,” Luigi interrupted. “It was pretty good until I woke up to see the whole place was an illusion, and my brother and the Princess’s rooms were utterly trashed. And those toilets are a safety hazard, but more importantly, what have you done with my friends?”

“Oh, don’t worry about them,” she replied, waving her hand dismissively. “You’ll see them again soon enough. You know, you really have no idea how much I wanted you all to accept my invitation.”

“Why us?” he asked. “Have we offended you in some way? Just give me my friends back and we’ll go, alright?”

“Go?” she laughed, as if it were the most ludicrous thought in the world. “No, no. I brought you here because of someone I truly adore. He was the reason I had the idea to bring you here in the first place!”

Luigi was starting to understand. “Uh, cool,” he said. “Is he someone I know, by any chance?”

“Maybe,” Hellen said evasively. “But I’m a huge fan of his, so it’s an honour that I get to reintroduce him to you, Luigi. I hope you’re ready!”

Using her cape as a curtain, she spread her arms, then swept to the side to reveal someone Luigi was hoping never to see again.

King Boo’s evil laugh rang in Luigi’s ears, and he yelped, stumbling backwards and almost falling to the floor. “Thought you’d never see me again, huh, Luigi?”

Luigi was hyperventilating too much to respond. King Boo waited a moment before continuing. “Honestly, I was a bit pessimistic about this whole thing. I thought you wouldn’t come. You really don’t learn, do you?”

“Not my fault you get your kicks out of deceiving us,” Luigi gasped, finally regaining his breath. King Boo just laughed again in response.

_Everything’s just a game to him. A comedy show._

“You could argue that it is, but that’s besides the point,” King Boo dismissed. “The point is that I escaped from that old coot’s lab again! Well, not really escaped. I’m sure you’ve already realised what a huge fan the hotel owner is of me. She helped me escape! Lucky for me… not so much for you.”

_No shit._

“You asked about your friends earlier, didn’t you? You’ll be pleased to know they’re safe… in painting frames, for eternity!” He lifted one of his appendages, and out of nowhere burst five painting frames, containing Blue, Red, Yellow, the Princess, and his brother!

“No!” he cried, reaching a hand out towards them, but they vanished as soon as he started to run over. He turned to glare at King Boo, but instead shrieked and fell over as the Boo was right up in his face.

“Awww, Luigi, why the long face?” he mocked. “It’ll all be over soon. Now if you’d just stay right there and look as terrified as you can…”

Luigi, fortunately, only had to do one of those things. He was up on his feet and running down the corridor as fast as his legs could carry him as soon as he saw the purple glow of the painting frame being summoned.

He chanced a look back, and screamed in terror. King Boo was right on his tail, and he looked angry this time. The King used his tongue to fling luggage and laundry carts at him, making him stumble, but he refused to trip. Shining his flashlight into King Boo’s eyes did nothing but make him angrier. Making a beeline for the doors was no use either, as King Boo used Spirit Balls on them before he even had a chance to turn towards them.

“Where do you think YOU’RE going?” Luigi heard King Boo screech, and his heart leapt into his throat. He needed to get away. King Boo was going to hurt him badly if he caught him.

The end of the corridor was in sight, but so was the laundry chute. Hope bloomed at the thought of going down it, but it was crushed when the Spirit Balls flew towards it and it vanished from sight.

There was nowhere left to run, so Luigi stopped and turned around. Maybe he could run past King Boo and try to find another exit… but he was so gigantic now that he blocked the entire hallway, and Luigi found himself unable to move.

“No…” he whimpered pitifully as King Boo lifted the painting frame up and towards him.

“Oh, yes, Luigi,” the Boo cackled. “This is game over!”

As the painting descended, Luigi comforted himself with the thought of _at least you tried your best._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That scene just never made sense to me. I mean, why would you go through the effort of Spirit-Balling all the doors that lead to inescapable bedrooms, and then NOT bother to get rid of the laundry chute that can take one to another floor entirely? (also why didn't he just follow him down. he's a ghost. i understand you need to win the game but COME ON PEOPLE)
> 
> WOW i cannot wait for day 19


	6. Please...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being locked in a painting and electrocuted isn't fun. Luigi just wants it to stop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> obligatory "this is an au and may have references you don't understand"
> 
> extra "I'm sorry this is so short, I kinda ran out of time here"
> 
> ultra-obligatory "I'm so so so so sorry Luigi"
> 
> HELLO THERE POTATO. i see you've finally gotten around to reading my fic. : )

Luigi had been sitting on the stone floor of the painting’s cottage for four hours, nine minutes, and thirty-eight seconds before King Boo had returned. At least, since he’d started counting. The total would definitely have been longer.

He couldn’t sleep, so there wasn’t really much to do aside from count the seconds and desperately pray that each one wasn’t the moment the Boos would choose to make a return. Their king was probably busy with other things, after all.

Every second without incident was a relief, but the time of return had to come sooner or later.

It always would have been better later. No matter how boring waiting alone in the painting was – waiting for someone to rescue him or waiting for his tormentors to return – the alternative was infinitely worse.

When he looked up at the outside world and King Boo was floating before it, he curled up into a ball, phantom pains flashing through his mind, fear shattering any façade he might have put up. The white-hot needles of electricity jabbed at him, just for a moment, and he seized up instinctively. He heard his tormentor chuckle.

Luigi knew it was going to happen again. He could already see the blue glow around the gem, and for a moment he was willing to do anything to prevent it from happening. But that moment passed, as all the ones before it had, so all he did was look up at his captor defiantly, silently daring him to do his worst.

King Boo did not disappoint.

The torture was even worse than it had been before. If the first time was needles, these were knives; stabbing him and twisting slowly just to make it hurt that little bit more, scratching along his skin. If the first time had gone on for hours, this went on for days.

A moment of reprieve. Luigi collapsed to the floor, the feeling rushing back to his body. For some reason, his throat felt hoarse. He touched it, wincing from phantom pain.

“You really did scream yourself hoarse that time. It sounded divine.”

He would have glared back at King Boo, said something sarcastic like before, but if it was going to bring him anywhere near as much pain as he’d just endured – no. He’d learnt this lesson a thousand times, and yet he still forgot. Provoking someone who had ultimate power over your life was a very bad idea.

He saw the gem glow that signified the next lightning strike and a weak “No,” slipped from his mouth before he realised what he was saying.

The glow did not wane, but it did not intensify any further, and no lightning struck him immediately. “What was that?” King Boo said, sounding equal parts amused and angry.

Did he think Luigi was trying to tell him what to do? Did he want to hear Luigi desperately begging for the torture to stop? Luigi didn’t know what was happening. He didn’t know what the ghost wanted. That in itself terrified him.

Another strike hit him; barely longer than a second, but it was enough to have him screaming in anticipated terror. “NO! No no no, stop, make it stop, no more, please!”

Another small zap. Luigi didn’t move. It was more like the knives were experimentally prodding at him, trying to get him to react. He knew this would only bring him mockery and more pain. Why did he bother?

“Luigi, you should know by now. I do what I want.”

He could feel King Boo grinning.

“And what I want is to hear that again.”

The electricity wasn’t even on the level of knives this time, it was more like swords. Coming dangerously close to slicing him open and letting him die, but pausing just before the brink. He couldn’t even count the length of time it went on for.

At last, Luigi was allowed to slide to the ground, gasping for air which, inside the painting, he didn’t even need. He tried to sit up, but his limbs weren’t responding to him; they were sluggish from the sheer amount of electricity that had been forced through his body. His throat felt like it was about to tear itself in two.

“Now. Would you like me to keep electrocuting you or not, Luigi?”

“Please don’t,” he whimpered. “Please, don’t do it again, no more. Please…”

King Boo cackled out loud, and Luigi flinched, bracing for even more pain. “Oh, this is just precious! I don’t even know how you lasted that long. I’m so glad I decided to target you instead of Mario,” he said, feigning wiping tears from his eyes.

His face hardened again. “Unfortunately for you, I’m still not satisfied with that.”

The pain seemed to last for weeks.

_No. It’s neverending._


	7. I've Got You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luigi comes out of the painting victorious, but badly injured.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> obligatory 'this is an au with references you might not understand' AND an extra 'Luigi and Bowser are friends in this AU, it will be explained in the main story if you can be bothered to read through all my autistic ramblings, thank you for coming to my TED talk'
> 
> ALSO remember how I tagged an autistic character? yeah that's bowser. let me project in peace
> 
> i've got a debate tomorrow and i haven't written anything because i was too busy procrastinating/writing this oh god 
> 
> eENJOY (sorry if the notes make no sense. i'm really tired)

Luigi was sucked out of the painting, and fell straight to the floor.

“Oh shit- my leg!” he screamed. It had crumpled underneath him, the shattered bone having finally given into its injuries.

_He had barely been able to roll out of the way in time before the giant Bowser suit slammed down onto the floor. But he wasn’t quite fast enough, and one leg was crushed to a pulp._

_But the leg hadn’t given in. A green sheen of light had glowed around it, almost like a phantom leg, allowing him to drag himself to his feet and keep facing down the Boo who’d trapped his brother in a painting._

The green shield – as he’d decided to call it – had been a literal lifesaver, but it must have been an adrenaline-induced thing, because now it was gone. The pain was spreading through his whole body, pain like he hadn’t remembered it in the heat of battle, and the blood was staining his trousers and dripping onto the floor.

“I need help,” he groaned, grabbing the painting of his brother and slowly, painstakingly, dragging himself across the floor, leaving a trail of blood in his wake. He was already starting to feel faint.

“HELP!” he screamed once he reached the door. “H-help!”

He heard a cry from upstairs. Someone had clearly heard him. He continued trying to drag himself out of the altar as he heard the mystery person – people from the sounds of it – trying to find the way down.

He thought he heard a high-pitched voice shriek, “Over here! Here it is!” and he might have heard footsteps rushing down the stairs and then somehow managing to navigate the rooms without being slammed into the wall by the fake doors. He may or may not have cried in relief when he’d seen the Toads running down the corridor yelling his name.

One of them took the portrait from him. “No,” he said, reaching for it. “No, that’s my brother – give him back…”

“Luigi! Luigi, your leg! H-hey, it’s okay, we’ve got you, we’ll get you to that old man you told us about- Luigi!”

One of them slapped him, and subsequently started bursting out with apologies. Luigi started awake. “’S okay,” he mumbled groggily. “Where’s my bro?”

“He’s- he’s right here, my friend’s got him.”

“Good,” he said, and suddenly they were outside and the freezing cold air of Boo Woods was hitting him hard, jolting him awake for real this time. “The professor…”

A few skips in time later, he could hear the professor scolding him as he opened the door. “Really, Luigi, you didn’t answer my call! It took you so long to get back… up… here…”

“His leg!” he heard one of the Toads cry out, and then the floor was rushing up to his face.

When he woke up, he was lying on the floor, something soft under his head and something tight around his leg. “Professor?” he mumbled weakly.

“Don’t move, sonny,” he heard the old man say. “We’ve got you, and your brother’s right here. One trip backwards through the Portrificationizer and he’ll be right back to normal.”

“That’s good,” he heard himself say before he felt himself fading back into unconsciousness. Damn. He’d wanted to ask about King Boo as well.

The next time he was conscious, he was in the hospital.

Doctors were running left and right. Koopa doctors. Good, he was back home. They were shouting urgently, didn’t even seem to notice he was awake.

_Rude,_ some part of his brain thought indignantly. _They’re busy,_ another one reasoned. Luigi was just happy to be home.

One of them must have noticed he was conscious, because they were telling him, “We’ve got you, you’re going to be okay. We’re just going to give you some…”

And then he was off again.

When he woke up for real, it was to find Bowser standing over him, face twisted in concern.

“Hey,” Luigi said groggily, and then, “Wow, it’s nice to be able to move again.”

Bowser chuckled. “Seems you’ve finally inherited my lack of brain-to-mouth filter.” He gently placed his hand on Luigi’s head. “It’s good to have you back.”

“What happened?”

“You were seriously injured,” Bowser told him. “Whatever that ghost did to you-“

“He dressed up in a metal suit of you and crushed my leg,” Luigi interrupted.

“Okay, wow, that’s very creepy,” Bowser muttered before continuing with his explanation. “That professor called me, I sent some of my guys over to pick you up, and you’re here.”

“My leg?”

“They didn’t tell me about that. Doctor-patient confidentiality.”

“King Boo?”

“Locked away in the professor’s ghost vault.”

“My- um. Mario?”

“Call him whatever you like, I don’t care,” Bowser said. “Mario’s fine too, if a bit rattled from being shot through whatever machine he had to be shot through to come out of that painting. Obviously he didn’t really want to speak to me.”

“Fair enough,” Luigi grumbled. “A thank you would have been nice, though. If I lose my leg over him…”

They sat in silence for about a minute, and then the enormity of Luigi’s experiences hit him, and his breath hitched. “Oh Grambi, I could lose my leg,” he whimpered.

Bowser moved immediately, into the most gentle hug he had ever experienced. It was like he was morbidly terrified of injuring him further. “That won’t happen,” he said, determinedly. “These are the best doctors I could find in the Koopa Kingdom, nothing more than you deserve. People have healed from injuries like these before.”

Luigi didn’t respond. He was content to just sit there, and let Bowser – or anyone, really – reassure him that everything was going to be okay.

Everything had to be okay.

“I’ve got you.”

_I trust you._

_…_

_Thank you._


	8. Where Did Everybody Go?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> King Boo doesn't know where the hell everyone went.
> 
> [redacted] does not know where everyone went.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay this one's going to be WEIRD
> 
> the 'King Boo' in the bold text is not the King Boo we know and love, but one of his many predecessors, talking to the small ghost that will one day become the King Boo we know and love. the King Boo in the italics is indeed the King Boo we know and love. the normal text? i hope you guys are good at reading comprehension because I'M NOT lol
> 
> and with that i officially have to add 'major character death' into the tags. okay eNJOY

**“Hello?”**

**[redacted] gasped at the sound. They tried to flee, somehow phasing straight through the trees –**

**The giant ghost was RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM-**

**“Do not be scared. I know death is terrifying, but I am not here to hurt you.”**

**“Who are you?” the small ghost said, trembling as they floated.**

**“I am the King of Boos. I do not really have a name other than King Boo,” the ghost shrugged. “Some of the Boos call me their father, but you probably would not be comfortable with that straight after your death.”**

**“I… died?”**

**“Do you not remember it?”**

**“I… I do, but…”**

**The ghost – no, the Boo... no, the other Boo, they were going to have to get used to this – placed his arm (appendage?) on their head. “Do you want to talk about it?”**

\----

[redacted] had had to get up early that day. Oh well. No different than any of the other days.

His mother had given him breakfast. Bread as usual. “We cannot afford any more,” she lied through her teeth, a tongue that [redacted] knew was black as night hiding behind them. Did she not say that he was not supposed to lie, that it was a sin in the eyes of God?

_He hadn’t known the word ‘hypocrite’ back then, but in hindsight it was definitely appropriate._

His father had taken one look at him and snapped at him to stop acting like a child. Fair enough, he supposed. He had been weepy and sad for the whole season. Not that they would ever know why. ~~He would let himself burn alive before he let them find out why.~~

Stomach growling like every day, he put on his hat and clogs and went out into the field. He did not even know why he was still there. He could have been out there trying to be like everyone and everything he had ever looked up to.

_It had only ever been a pipe dream. At least, back then it had been._

~~His sister had snuck him a few gulps of milk when he was hot and sweaty and possibly sunburnt. He had grinned at her, and she had looked around and held her finger to her lips. He had nodded and gotten on with the work.~~

_That’s weird. Something’s missing here. Oh well, can’t have been that important._

His father should have been out to check on his work. It was strange that he was not. And unfortunate. For [redacted]’s thoughts were elsewhere that day.

~~Thinking about the man he had loved, the one that he had spent time with. The one that he had witnessed burning on a wooden stake right before his eyes, screaming that he was not to blame.~~

_Another thing missing? Seriously? This is getting stranger by the minute._

His thoughts were elsewhere, so when his smock snagged on the wheat-threshing machine, he did not notice until it was far too late.

A sharp tug. He never even had time to scream before he was pulled in.

From there, it was blurs of consciousness. For those few hours, he longed for the darkness, because every time he awoke there was only pain. Parts of his body being crushed by the machinery, the rusty parts slicing his skin open. Something was stuck in his throat. He could not scream, only make small, pathetic sounds of sadness.

Where was his father?

Where did his father go?

Where did everybody go?

~~He knew there were supposed to be more people here. Those ones who did not look like him and his family, who spoke languages he could not understand. Where were they?~~

_Okay, I’m starting to get really fed up of these missing pieces._

Awake, and asleep. Awake, and asleep, until the final time he awoke, alive.

One of the bits of machinery ~~he was too stupid to know the names of~~ was inching closer to his head. Then it had him, pushing his head to the side until it would turn no more, and then pushing it even further.

It hurt.

The bone in his neck snapped, and then it did not hurt any longer.

\----

**“Poor child,” King Boo said, stroking their – no, his – head gently. “We have had many like you, who have died at the uncaring hands of machines, but it will never be a nice way to go.”**

**“Why am I still here? Am I not going to hell?” he asked.**

**King Boo stopped. Then laughed. “There is no hell, child,” he reassured. “You are here because your death was one of suffering, and you did not deserve it. We are all here for that reason. We will help you.”**

**He wanted to be helped.**

**“Thank you.”**

\----

_King Boo snapped awake. It was strange for him, because he usually didn’t sleep._

_The containment unit was silent. None of the other ghosts were bothering him for once, especially that weirdo Hellen Gravely._

_…His surroundings looked completely different. He had more space, and there was no one with him. He might have been in another universe for all he knew._

_“Hello?” he called. No one responded, so he decided to think out loud._

_“Where the hell did everybody go? Where the hell did I go?”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hc that KB thinks hellen is ultra creepy. mostly because i think she's ultra creepy.
> 
> and my debate went pretty well if anyone was wondering! it was terrifying but for a first debate it went really well!


	9. For The Greater Good

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Koopa Kingdom is invaded by Boos. King Boo is willing to stop, for a price.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay a couple of notes for this one
> 
> first, reiteration of the 'au' theme. bowser and luigi have an established friendship/found family thing going on by this point in the story. mario and luigi have also reconciled by this time (which doesn't make sense now but will after you've read day 12)
> 
> second, bowser jr is now named Jem. because come on. autistic bowser isn't going to name his kids after himself. why would he do that when he can give them a far better and less aggressive-sounding name?
> 
> finally i stayed up real late making this one so you better eNJOY-

Luigi slammed down the phone, hands shaking. He’d done it. He’d warned the Mushroom Kingdom of the impending invasion. Now all that was left to do was wait for the battle on their own turf to be over, most likely ending in their defeat.

He’d just been getting his teeth into some of Bowser’s paperwork when a loud _BOOM_ had destroyed half the castle. Looking through the window revealed hundreds upon hundreds of Boos outside the castle – and not their small clan. No, this was the work of the Boo Kingdom, both the largest community of Boos and the worst echo chamber of hatred to ever have existed.

Led by King Boo, they’d used something to blow up one side of the castle, and then started attacking every soldier they could get their appendages on. Luigi had wasted no time in grabbing Jem from his bedroom and racing down to the safe area, placing him in there and promising that everything would be okay.

“Luigi, don’t go back up there,” he’d said. “The Boos will scare you again!”

“I have to,” Luigi had replied. “They’re ghosts. I’m the best in the Poltergust Unit. Don’t worry, Jem, everything’ll be fine.”

So Jem had trusted him and shut the door. At least that was one person safe, although maybe that trust was a mistake.

The rest of the Poltergust Unit, mostly made up of Koopas (unfortunately their own group of Boos were unable to help without being sucked up themselves), was already on the scene, sucking up Boos left and right, or slamming them into the floor. Luigi quickly joined the fray, adding order to the chaos the Unit had been left in without their ‘leader’.

Unfortunately, the Boos had quickly figured out that if they broke the Poltergusts before the Unit could get back to the emptying ports, their fellow Boos would be freed. More and more Poltergusts were lost, and more and more Boos were freed. Of course, some were sent to the Professor through the ports, but not nearly enough to turn the tide of the battle.

Luigi’s own Poltergust G-00 had been shattered after about an hour of this raging battle. Gooigi, fortunately, was basically indestructible and was able to function on their own, so he wasn’t worried about them. He pulled out the Poltergust 5000 from the shrunken ball of matter his magic managed to create, and continued the fight. When that broke, he switched to the Poltergust 3000. When that broke, he headed inside to get another from the mechanics that were working furiously to get new machines into action and broken ones repaired.

But many of his Unit had already fallen. Dead or captured, he didn’t know, and their numbers were thinning.

News. Bowser had ordered a retreat. Somehow, King Boo had managed to reach him, and organise… something. The Boos also fell back, leaving the battleground empty.

Bowser had also called a meeting, and you could feel the tension in the air. His son Jem was not present, still being guarded in the safe room. Was this the point in time when their questions would be answered? Why was King Boo doing this? What would make him stop?

“He said he would pull back his Boos and leave the Koopa Kingdom alone,” Bowser said heavily, “if we give up our political assistant and leader of the Poltergust Unit, Luigi.”

All eyes turned towards Luigi for a moment.

Then uproar.

Luigi lost the plot in the chaos, but apparently a few of the more panicked members of the group had attempted to attack him just so this could be over. Which meant others had started defending him, and the meeting itself turned into a battleground, Luigi cocooned in a circle of the defenders-

A gigantic _ROAR_ from Bowser had everyone falling silent. He never used that ability unless he was serious. “Everyone! I understand that you’re scared, but there is no reason to turn on Luigi. We will-”

Luigi raised his hand. It felt like the most difficult thing in the world.

“Yes, Luigi.”

Luigi took a deep breath, hardly believing what he was about to say. “I’ll go.”

Dead silence.

\----

“We- we can’t just give up!” Bowser yelled, punching his waist in frustration after they’d dismissed… pretty much everyone but just him and Luigi.

“Bowser, with all due respect, this is my decision,” Luigi answered. “I would like to go, if it will bring peace to the kingdom.”

“You…” Bowser took a deep breath, then exhaled a puff of smoke. “I don’t want you to go. I can’t lose you.”

“It’s not losing me. It’s not giving up,” Luigi reassured. “It’s just… a ‘see you later’. You can rebuild the Poltergusts, better, less breakable. Talk to the Professor. You can get me back later, when you’ve regrouped.”

Bowser was across the room faster than Luigi had ever seen him move, gently hugging him. “You know what he’ll do to you. I don’t want that to happen to you again.”

“I don’t want this kingdom to fall because we couldn’t give up one person,” Luigi said, rubbing his shoulder softly. “Listen, you can get one of the others to do my work. Maybe Wendy, she was the most annoyed when you told them all you’d filled my position.”

“It’s not that. I don’t know how to say it.”

“Then you don’t have to. You can tell me after you’ve amassed a force and kicked KB’s ass.”

Luigi stepped out of the hug, and moved towards the door, steeling his mind for what he was about to do.

Before he left, he heard a muffled, “We will get you back, Luigi.”

He turned, smiled, said, “I’ll be counting on it. Tell Jem I’ll miss him,” and walked out of the door.

It was probably better to not have to try to explain things to the child right now. They had a time limit as it was. Just ten minutes remained of the half an hour King Boo had given them before the attack was due to resume; he’d have to be quick.

\----

Luigi pushed open the doors to the castle and walked out. He’d barely taken three steps before he was lifted, then slammed to the ground by a supernatural force.

“That’s admirable, Luigi,” King Boo said, his new crown gem glowing with intensified power. “You know that this will only bring you suffering, and you chose to do it anyway.”

“If there’s a chance it’ll save the people I care about from ruin, I’ll do it,” Luigi gasped out.

“You’ve definitely saved many of them today, I can guarantee that,” King Boo said, pulling him to his feet and forcing his legs to follow as he floated away from the castle. “But now, you’re ours, so mess up and we might just be coming back here to finish what we started.”

Luigi’s breath quickened, but he stood firm. He knew what he’d signed up for.

“I said I’d do it, didn’t I?”

The King laughed. “That you did,” he said, his gem glowing brighter as he summoned a portrait frame. “You won’t be in here long. Just transportation.”

The frame slammed down over him, and he knew no more.

For now.


	10. They Look So Pretty When They Bleed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luigi battles King Boo, and suffers... severe injuries.
> 
> That's probably an understatement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> obligatory 'AU, might not understand everything, bowser and luigi are not enemies'
> 
> nothing huge today except the regular 'i'm sorry luigi'
> 
> let's-a go!

The whirlwind of the painting that King Boo had created consumed Luigi, dragging him into its depths. Somewhere in there was his brother Mario, the reason he was here. He didn’t know what he was going to have to do to get him out, but he _would_ get him out. ~~Even if he hadn’t done the same for Luigi.~~

The tornado blew him about for a few more seconds before allowing him to land sitting on an area that looked much like the rooftop of the Boos’ mansion. Shrubs everywhere, a small cottage… Luigi’s heart clenched as he realised that this painting’s pocket dimension had been modelled off of the one he had been imprisoned in.

A shadow fell over him, and he screeched in alarm as Bowser jumped down right behind him. Wait, Bowser? That made no sense. Bowser had just called him, he was just in the castle! His confusion was ailed as he saw the massive Koopa grab his head and ‘adjust’ it in a way that would most certainly have broken his neck if he was alive.

Wait… this wasn’t Bowser. This was just King Boo in a Bowser mecha. How… bizarre. Luigi almost laughed as he got to his feet and defiantly held up the Poltergust, pointing it at the neck of the suit.

It roared, and spat fire somehow, causing Luigi to jump back for fear of getting burned. He ran a short distance away, trying to figure out King Boo’s moves. He’d never fought this guy. Or anyone at all, really. He needed to see what he was going to do.

The suit glared down at him and summoned spiked balls – something Bowser did not have the ability to do – and threw them at him.

_He is overconfident. This can be used against him._

Luigi grabbed one of the balls with the Poltergust and held it up, ready to fire.

_Wait. He’s too far away._

King Boo bent the suit down to shoot more fire at him, and he sprung into action, releasing his grip on the ball and launching it into the mech’s face.

Its head exploded.

Luigi felt utter terror for a moment. _Oh Grambi, did I kill Bowser?_

Then he remembered as King Boo came flying out of the smoke, snarling but vulnerable. It wasn’t real.

Luigi switched the Poltergust on and focused on King Boo, vacuuming the ghost up, depleting the health of his shields. He was so focused on King Boo that he didn’t notice the floating Bowser head spewing ice blocks at him until he was already caught in one, and King Boo was back to hiding in the suit again, his shields down 453/500.

This song and dance repeated a few more times. Sometimes he’d get hit by the spiked balls before sucking them up. Sometimes he’d get burned by the fire King Boo spat. But he never gave up.

After about half an hour of this vicious battle, King Boo’s shields were down to 190/500. The suit’s head floated on backwards that time, and he began to run around, frantically trying to shove it back into place. Luigi tried his best to dodge, but he was knocked down onto his arm, then when trying to get back up the suit kicked him in the chest hard enough to break a few ribs.

His arm and chest burned. He almost wanted to give up. But he couldn’t afford to, so he grabbed the Poltergust and got back on his feet.

King Boo’s shields were at 97/500 when he caught Luigi in a blast of fire which knocked him off his feet. He was forced to endure, screaming, for about five seconds until the pain stopped.

Luigi’s skin was blistering, and some parts were even slightly charred. His body was not fully responding to his commands, so he couldn’t get back onto his feet. The suit slammed down a foot in front of his face.

“Ready to give up yet, Luigi?” King Boo taunted.

As much as Luigi wanted this to be over, he knew that if he gave up now it would only cause more hurt in the long run. So he rolled over, said, “Fuck you,” and spat on the ground.

The suit snorted in anger, and as it lifted a foot, Luigi could only think _I’m about to die._

_\----_

In all fairness, King Boo had only been aiming for Luigi’s legs. Incapacitate him, make him unable to move and unable to fight back.

But Luigi somehow regained the ability to move – stupid human adrenaline – as he brought the suit’s foot down, rolling to the side as it crashed to the ground.

And spurted blood all over the suit.

Luigi _screamed,_ and King Boo could easily see why. Although it hadn’t been what he was aiming for… he’d only half missed.

He took one step back to marvel at the utter mess he’d made of Luigi’s left leg. The man in question took one look and promptly vomited all over the stone, which was disgusting but understandable.

The leg was barely even a leg anymore. Just a flattened mess of blood and muscle, bones sticking out of places they most certainly should not be. He reached down to touch it, and Luigi dragged it away, somehow managing to look disgusted while still screaming.

He took another shot at Luigi’s right leg, ready to take him out of action, and was astonished when Luigi rolled away and onto his singular functioning leg, leaving a trail of blood in his wake. A faint green light shone around the left leg, and when Luigi placed it on the ground, it caused a wince, but not a collapse.

Did Luigi even realise he had magic? By all rights he should be writhing in pain on the ground right now, not staring at him with that deliciously defiant look on his face as tears streamed down it.

King Boo grinned inside the suit. Magic or not, it didn’t matter. He’d got Luigi now.

A minute later, he was being pulled into the Poltergust, cursing his own hubris.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "I'm a FOOL! I was blinded by my own hubris!" - Desbug 
> 
> (and KB too i guess)


	11. Psych 101

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Continuation of Day 9. King Boo doesn't visit Luigi for a while, but when he does, he has a surprise in store.
> 
> It's not a good one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> regular au-ified notice, coming soon to a fanfic near you!
> 
> bold is kb, everything else is luigi
> 
> i should probably have been doing my psych revision instead of this. okay ENJOY

Luigi tumbled out of the painting into a dingy-looking room. A door slammed shut somewhere in the room, and he heard the _click_ of a lock. He laughed out loud; not like he’d leave even if given the ‘choice’. A choice between his own imprisonment and the imprisonment of almost everyone he cared about. No contest.

Even so, he looked around the room, running his hands over the chipped walls but not touching the doorknob. There was a small window in the room, thick bars blocking most of the outside world from view, but at least he could see something. Even if that ‘something’ was just the half-dead trees of Boo Woods.

The only thing he had to measure days was light, since he’d left anything that could tell the time in his room at Bowser’s castle. But there was never much light in Boo Woods, so he soon gave up trying.

Most of the time he was left alone. Boos would occasionally pop their heads in to tease him, and there was one specific one who wouldn’t tell him their name that would give him food every day, and sometimes even tell him a few things about the outside world. He learned that while the Koopa Kingdom was being left alone, as King Boo had promised, the Mushroom Kingdom was not.

That explained why he hadn’t seen King Boo since being removed from the painting – he was busy trying to invade the kingdom, which seemed to be holding its own, probably thanks to Mario and the rest of Peach’s small Poltergust Unit that she’d set up after the Hotel Incident. If he’d had free time, he would definitely have spent a lot of it hurting Luigi.

Aside from these interactions, Luigi had a lot of time to himself. So, he thought. And thought. And tried not to think about what King Boo had planned for him, what he was going to do to Luigi after he was done with the Mushroom Kingdom (one way or another).

But he couldn’t not think about it. And he couldn’t not hope, against all the evidence, that it might not be so bad. They’d moved his containment unit after the Hotel Incident down into the basement of the castle, so that Luigi had been able to check on him as much as necessary. And while he wouldn’t call their interactions pleasant… they weren’t horrible either, so maybe…

~~He knew it was a false hope, but~~ it was the only thing keeping him sane during the waiting time.

So, he waited. And waited.

He started to count the days using meals.

It must have been a month before King Boo finally had enough free time to visit Luigi. And he looked very smug, so Luigi was probably justified in immediately asking, “What did you do?”

“Oh, lots of things,” King Boo said, flicking an appendage. “I would have visited you earlier, but there was just so much to do. I’m sure someone told you about the invasion of the Mushroom Kingdom we’ve been working on?”

“I’ve heard about it,” said Luigi through gritted teeth.

“Good, because it’s been completed.”

Luigi’s stomach dropped. “What?”

“You heard me,” King Boo giggled. “The Mushroom Kingdom has officially been conquered. Its Princess is currently in my portrait gallery, and its citizens are currently hiding in their homes.

Luigi didn’t respond for a few moments. Then, “My brother.”

“What was that?”

“What did you do with Mario?”

“Oh, him,” King Boo said. “Some of my Boos told me you were working out your issues together. I must say, it was about time. You two cared about each other, yes?”

“What’s it to… wait,” Luigi said, his mind grinding to a halt. “What do you mean by ‘cared’?”

Grinning, the King pulled something out of his gem and threw it on the dirty floor, and Luigi bent down to gingerly pick it up. It was Mario’s hat, the red one with a coin embroidered on the front in white. But it had dark spots on it, and it smelled like metal.

_Blood. It’s blood. He… no, he couldn’t have._

“You… you killed my brother?” Luigi screamed, horrified.

King Boo’s grin widened, and that was all the answer he needed to give.

Luigi collapsed to his knees, curling his body around his brother’s hat like it was the most precious thing he’d ever held. For the next few hours he stayed like that, even after King Boo left, curled up, and all he did was cry.

_Mario…_

**Luigi really did look exquisite when he was crying, King Boo decided, looking down on him while invisible – though he might not have noticed him there if he was in the visible spectrum. He’d been here for about three hours, and while the crying was exquisite, he wished it would stop for just a moment so he could tear his eyes away. He had too much to do for Luigi to be distracting him with all this silly crying.**

**But admittedly, it had been harsh to make him believe his brother was dead.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kb is a dick. a massive dick.
> 
> on the topic of psych 101, i have a psych quiz tomorrow so wish me luck pls


	12. I Think I've Broken Something

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mario might have made a few mistakes.
> 
> But he really thought it was a trap!
> 
> He really didn't realise it was Luigi in there! He... he...
> 
> HE KNEW THE TRUTH.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the 'au' notice is really important this time. canon mario is not an egotistical selfish asshole. but this guy, this guy right here? he is. absolutely. and he owes Luigi several million apologies.
> 
> also bowser being angry for all the right reasons
> 
> ENJOY MY GARBAGE!

_Mario, what are you doing?_

Mario walked away from the mansion as fast as he could go without tripping, or crashing into a tree. His brother. His brother, Luigi, was the one who was trapped.

When he’d heard that someone had been kidnapped and severely harmed by the King of Boo Woods, he hadn’t hesitated. He was the hero, after all; it was his job to rescue people from danger! Even if the Boo king seemed far more scary and malicious than Bowser was.

He’d walked into the mansion. All the doors had been open, inviting him into the treasure room in the basement. And then he saw him.

At first, he’d thought that the Boos were seriously creepy. I mean, having a painting of his brother hanging on their wall? He had already been creeped out, even before the painting looked up, gasped, and yelled in delight.

“Mario!” it had called, grinning all over its face. “You actually came! Please, get me out of here!”

Time seemed to stop. Why was it moving? Paintings couldn’t move. Why did it look so happy to see him? He thought Luigi hated him ~~no, this wasn’t Luigi, this couldn’t be his brother~~.

It blinked. “Mario, are you okay? Why aren’t you doing anything?”

“Shut up,” he said. “You’re not Luigi, and if you are, I’m not helping you anyway.”

“W-what?” it said, looking dismayed. “Mario, it’s really me! I’m trapped in this painting and I can’t get out! Please get me out!”

Mario said no more. He was too busy convincing himself that his brother couldn’t be trapped in this painting. I mean, come on, who traps people in paintings? This guy was acting nothing like his brother. His brother was calm and collected, and he certainly wouldn’t be this desperate to be let out.

So he ignored the bruises and the blood, the trauma laid out right in front of him, and turned away, walked out of the door as ~~Luigi~~ the thing in the painting screamed at him to help. The fading pleads of “PLEASE, MARIO, HELP ME!” eventually devolved into echoing sobs as he got farther and farther away from the treasure room. At one point, he thought he heard someone cackling, but he didn’t quite register it. After all, that couldn’t be his brother.

~~But he knew the truth deep down.~~

His own brain seemed torn in two. ‘ _What are you doing?’_ one side screamed, _‘He’s your brother! Go back, he’s hurt, help him!’_

The other side justified his ~~selfish, spiteful~~ actions, whispering that _‘It was just a trap’_ and _‘Even if he really is your brother, he doesn’t deserve your help.’_

_~~‘Why not?’~~ _

_~~‘What did he ever do to you?’~~ _

He thought he saw someone else running towards the mansion, but when he blinked, they were gone.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

He’d been back in Peach’s Castle, reporting that there had been no person and that it was only a trap for him. Peach had been saying that she was relieved to hear that there had been no one harmed, when the door burst open and Bowser stomped in, carrying Luigi’s limp body. Everyone in the room froze: the advisers, the princess, and even Mario himself.

“No one harmed, my ass,” he growled. “Mario, do you want to explain why I just saw you running away from a Boo mansion in which I found Luigi trapped in a painting?”

Mario’s mind went completely blank. He could only stare at his brother, lying completely still in Bowser’s arms. “Is he dead?” he heard himself asking.

“He probably wished he was,” Bowser responded, glaring at Mario, “but no, he’s unconscious and he needs to go to hospital. Now will you answer my bloody question?”

“I- I didn’t know it was him. I thought it was a trap.”

“You knew,” Bowser said. “I don’t care what you tried to convince yourself of. You knew it was him, and you left him there. He was _sobbing_ when I showed up. He thought he’d be stuck there forever. And I, of all people, was the one who bothered to save him?”

“Why do you care about my brother?” Mario dared to say. “You gonna kidnap him again?”

“No! I care because I’m having a crack at being a decent person for once!” he near-roared in exasperation. He took a deep breath, and when he next spoke, his voice was calm. “Which is something you could try.”

Mario stared at his brother, lying in Bowser’s arms, and looked down in shame.

He knew Bowser was right – but Grambi, did he HATE him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm really sorry, this one isn't the greatest. i had a really awful piece of politics homework that i didn't know how to do and no one in my group knew how to do and there were no answers for on the internet. but i'm still proud of it. it was the best i could do with the time i had. thank you for understanding.


	13. Breathe In Breathe Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luigi sees something that shouldn’t be there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Au-ified notice is really important today. You’re gonna think Bowser is acting out of character. He’s not. This is just how he is in the AU. Completely different to canon (read as: way nicer than canon)
> 
> Sorry if this is incoherent/weird/bad/short. A lot of stuff happened today and I’m super sleep deprived lol ENJOY MY SUFFERING

It was a fairly standard morning for Luigi, by all measures.

Wake up. Check if he had any public appearances that day. Get dressed in something appropriate if yes, get dressed in something comfy if no. Go downstairs. See King Boo casually floating on top of the sofa.

In retrospect, that was where it all went wrong.

He didn’t even say anything. Just perched on top of the sofa and grinned down at him. Luigi felt about fifty centimetres tall.

His subsequent screaming attracted loud footsteps to the scene as Bowser came rushing in. “Luigi! What is it?” he half-screeched, looking equal parts tired and concerned.

Luigi just raised one finger towards the sofa.

Bowser looked over, squinted, and then looked back at Luigi. “What is it? I- I don’t see it.”

“How could you not see that!” Luigi yelled hysterically. “King Boo is perched on top of the goddamn sofa! How did he get in here? I thought we had protective measures against this, I thought-“

“Luigi!” Bowser said firmly. “Calm down. My vision’s 20/20, and I can tell you with absolute certainty that King Boo is not there. Are you okay? You can go back to sleep, I can do some of the easier paperwork…”

Luigi stuttered, trying to form some kind of sentence, before abruptly crashing to the ground and curling up into a ball.

“LUIGI!” Bowser screeched.

“He’s getting closer,” Luigi whimpered. “It’s the same as last time. Don’t let him get me!”

“I won’t, I won’t,” Bowser promised, glancing frantically over in the same direction. There was still nothing there. Out of desperation, he started flapping his hand in the direction Luigi had pointed. “Is he gone?”

Luigi peeked out of his ball, screamed, “NO!” and promptly curled back up.

He became completely unresponsive after that. No amount of reassuring or poking would get him to respond. Something clicked; Luigi was definitely having some sort of mental breakdown, which Bowser didn’t have the knowledge to handle.

So he picked the shivering Luigi up and jumped down the nearest warp pipe, commanding it to take him to the hospital, and then just telling Luigi to take deep breaths, in and out, in and out, because that’s what his mother always said to him, and he couldn’t think of anything else.

He managed to deliver Luigi safely to the doctors, and they quickly whisked him away, yelling something about medication, or sedation, one of the two, or maybe both. Bowser waited five seconds before collapsing himself.

“King Bowser? Is everything alright?” someone timidly asked him.

“It’s fine,” he grumbled, dragging himself over to a seat. “More worried about my political assistant than anything else.”

The other person made a joke about paperwork which Bowser didn’t really understand. Pretty soon they got the message and left him alone, to breathe in, and out, and in, and out. Just like he’d always been told.

He knew it wouldn’t help with the crippling burnout.

When the doctors came to ask him questions about what had happened, he answered bluntly, and fell asleep as soon as they were gone.

\----

Luigi woke up a while later.

“Welcome back to the world, Luigi,” a Koopa nurse said, smiling at him. “Sorry about the sedation, but you were having a very serious panic attack. Our King has explained the events from his perspective; would you like to tell us what happened?”

“I saw King Boo,” was the first thing out of his mouth.

He grimaced. “Yes, that. King Bowser told me you were having some kind of hallucination.”

“Hallucination? But I swear I saw him there…”

For the blink of an eye, he thought he saw King Boo on the bedside table. When he looked again, he was gone.

At some part the nurse started discussing medications. Luigi listened with half an ear, nodded along, and finally the nurse left. He rolled over to try and get some real sleep, but then-

“Hello, Luigi.”

Luigi whirled around to find King Boo on the bedside table again, grinning up at him.

“You really thought I’d let you get any sleep?”

Luigi heard the echoes of Bowser telling him to breathe, in and out, in and out. He inhaled, and exhaled. “You aren’t real. You’re not really here. The Boo alarms would be going haywire if you were really here.”

King Boo let out a single chuckle. “Sure, I’m not real right now,” he said, “but how long do you think that’s going to last?”

Luigi had no answer, so he just closed his eyes, hoping that King Boo the hallucination would go away.

It didn’t.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To clarify: Bowser isn’t being a jerk/trying to manipulate Luigi. Luigi is actually hallucinating here. King Boo is not responsible for this (and they should probably never let him find out about it).


	14. Is Something Burning?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The story of the fire woven through their lives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not the longest, but I don't think this one needed to be that long to say what I wanted it to say.
> 
> sorry if au-ified and contains unnecessary multiverse theory. i thought it'd be fun and i had no ideas for this prompt. thanks for reading my crap. love you guys

All ~~three~~ of them have had fire woven through their lives.

For Mario, it was magic. Dancing between his hands, a small flame leapt as his parents clapped and told him he was going to be the hero of the world one day.

The Firebrand that the spirit had taught him, reluctantly using it with his brother’s lightning power to save the day. Bringing it out again just as he’d thought he’d lost it.

The Fire Flower, the power he could feel burning through his veins as soon as he touched it. With his natural affinity to fire, he could already kill in one hit.

And all three together?

They could burn down a forest.

_“MARIO, THAT’S WAY TOO MUCH!”_

_Luigi frantically smothered the fire with his shield magic as Wario started pissing himself laughing. Mario glared back at him. “Not like you did any better your first try.”_

Sometimes it was also the burning desert of the second world, struggling through while fighting enemies, drinking three litres of water before he managed to escape the burning sun.

Luigi’s and King Boo’s experiences of fire were more comparable. At least, they started out that way. Both being told stories at night of the flaming pits of Hell their parents seemed sure they were destined for, tossing and turning at night while their older siblings got to sleep in peace.

That was where their paths divulged.

King Boo, in another form and time, watched in horror as someone he deeply cared about died to the flames, tied to a wooden stake, cursing and swearing ghostly revenge on someone now long dead.

_“I curse you! You shall be burned with the same fire that kills me now!”_

_They made eye contact, and the burning man’s expression changed from fury to sorrow._

_Those words stuck with him until his own demise a few months later._

Then a blank slate. And he became the person he is today, using those balls of flaming stone to harm another. A vicious cycle.

Perhaps he was carrying out a subconscious revenge for the loved one he’d forgotten.

Luigi was the one who ended up harmed by King Boo’s fireballs, instead of the one the curse was intended towards. The artificial fire his Bowser suit crafted had seared Luigi’s skin, forever branding it with the scars of someone who’d fought his fears to save the world.

In another timeline, he might have been chained down, screaming as the fire was poured over him, by a King Boo who’d long since lost his mind and self. Branded with a very different kind of scar.

The fire had forged them all. So many children. So many versions of the same person.

Some broke, some survived, and some managed to really live.

**So, which will they be this time…?**


	15. Into The Unknown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> King Boo is released from yet another prison, and finds a new way to torment Luigi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> obligatory au-ified notice, obligatory i'm sorry luigi
> 
> i spent way too long on this.

Luigi had never had problems sleeping, but tonight he couldn’t let himself drift off.

He tried to figure out what the matter was. He’d closed the curtains. He hadn’t looked at his phone, or a book, or paperwork, or anything really for an hour, and was frankly getting rather bored. Nothing had happened earlier in the day to upset or scare him. Even King Boo hadn’t been that problematic when he went down to visit.

So why had he been feeling, for all these hours, like something was about to go horribly wrong?

Luigi groaned and shifted in bed. “Gotta bring this up with the psychiatrist,” he mumbled to himself, rubbing his sore eyes. “Probably just need a change in meds.”

\----

At the same time, someone with the form of a Koopa was entering the castle.

He held his breath as he opened the doors. Took one step through.

The alarms didn’t go off, and he exhaled in relief.

“Why would they?” he giggled quietly to himself. “I’m not a Boo, after all.”

The castle was huge, but finding the place he was looking for wasn’t difficult at all. He was able to pick the information right out of his screaming victim’s brain.

He reached the door he’d been looking for, took the key he’d stolen out of his pocket, and unlocked it. It creaked as it opened, and he stopped dead for a moment. There were no other sounds; nothing to indicate outside movement. He chuckled, and descended the steps, letting the door _click_ shut behind him.

As he neared the bottom, he heard a voice. “Really? This late?” it complained.

“Sorry for the wait, my King,” he apologised as he stepped into the view of the containment unit.

King Boo blinked. “What?” He scrunched up his face, the abruptly let it relax. “Wait… I can see your soul. You’re no ordinary Koopa, are you?” he said, floating up to the edge of the unit, staring in awe.

TaBoo ejected himself from his Koopa host, and floated up to meet his King. “Nope,” he grinned. “I was starting to get tired of them screaming at me.”

“So, you figured out the possession I was teaching you all. I should have known you would do it first.” King Boo brought his appendages together in an imitation of a clap.

“Yeah, it’s so much fun!” TaBoo giggled. “Thanks for teaching us, Your Grace, it’s perfect for messing with the Toads.”

“Glad you’re having fun, TaBoo, but there was a point to this, yes?” King Boo asked, though he already knew none of his children would try to pull something like this off without having thought things through.

“Yeah!” the small Boo cheered. “You always said you wanted to possess Luigi, right?”

King Boo opened his mouth to answer, before another Boo shot through the ceiling.

“Booigi!” TaBoo greeted. “How’s your namesake doing?”

“He can’t get to sleep, but he doesn’t even realise it’s because of our energy,” Booigi giggled. “He thinks he’s just being delusional. Heard something about him talking to his psychiatrist.”

“He’ll need to, after what you two appear to have planned,” King Boo said savagely. “Now… do you two know how to release me from this prison?”

\----

Luigi had given up on sleeping and flipped out his phone when the castle turned red.

“SHIT!” he yelled, rolling off his bed and fumbling for his spare Poltergust. He pulled it out of the shrinking spell and onto his shoulders, stumbling out of his bedroom as the Boo alarm continued to flare.

He headed straight for Bowser’s room, fully intending to join up with him for safety, until he turned a corner and something struck him with full force, sending him hurtling across the corridor and into the wall, probably smashing the Poltergust to bits.

He looked up, and screamed as he saw King Boo flying straight towards him –

And there was nothing for a few moments.

When his vision came back, it was long before he felt ready to open his eyes. He registered himself standing up, and sliding the Poltergust off his shoulders. “Piece of crap,” he heard himself mutter before it was violently swung towards the ground and then stomped on.

 **“What the hell?”** he tried to exclaim, except his mouth didn’t move and he could only hear the words ringing in his head.

Then, the same ringing, this time bearing a response. _“Oh, Luigi. Sorry about destroying your garbage. You went to great lengths to keep it safe, but you can’t keep anything hidden within your magic if I’m the one controlling you.”_

**“What?”**

_“Have you seriously never heard of a Boo possessing a living being?”_

Luigi felt something along the lines of the bottom dropping out of his stomach, except he wasn’t in control of his body anymore.

_“I guess you wouldn’t have. Even my Boos hadn’t, before I taught them. That’s how they busted me out, since I’m sure you’d already guessed.”_

Luigi… hadn’t, not really, and this thought made King Boo chuckle.

_“Too sleep-deprived, hm? I’ve got something that’ll get you wide awake.”_

Luigi’s body started walking forward, turning the corner towards Bowser’s room. _“I’m sure you’re wondering why no one else is awake. Sleeping spells are a real lifesaver for us Boos, you know. And Bowser is under the most powerful one. So he won’t hear if I do this…”_

King Boo opened the door to Bowser’s bedroom, and stepped right inside. Sure enough, Bowser was dead to the world.

_“Or this…”_

He stepped right up to Bowser’s bedside, and Luigi’s heart leapt into his throat as King Boo reached behind him for the two swords he kept strapped to his back.

_“Or this…”_

He unsheathed the swords with a loud _SHINK_ and held the blade right up to Bowser’s face. _"Imagine if I killed him by your own hands..."_

Luigi stared in horror for a few moments, before regaining control of whatever inner voice he had. **“NO!”** he screamed, and fought as hard as he could against the motion.

The arm jerked back once. Then King Boo sheathed the sword and laughed out loud. _“Just kidding,”_ he said as Luigi’s heartbeat finally slowed. _“We can have much more fun without morality getting in the way of things.”_

Then they were outside the castle, two Boos in his wake. As they began to chatter, gloating about Luigi’s defeat and praising their King, Luigi wished more than ever that he could just go to sleep. It would be so much easier to get through this then.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t going to be easy. King Boo would make sure of that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> gotta maths test tomorrow hahahahaha good luck me


	16. A Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Continuation of the storyline from prompts 9 and 11.
> 
> Luigi messes up. He makes sure he's the only one who pays the price.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> au-ified. bowser is a Good Guy TM now. and also autistic. yay! but king boo is even worse than normal... unyay? i mean it's good for angst but not good for luigi
> 
> and on that note i am SO SORRY LUIGI

After learning of his brother’s death, Luigi refused to talk to any of the Boos.

He’d accept food with a nod but wouldn’t say anything to the Boo who gave it to him. Fortunately, they didn’t seem bothered by this, and instead filled the empty silence with random chatter for a few minutes while Luigi ate, before taking the empty plate and leaving.

Luigi wasn’t quite sure what he’d do once King Boo came back, but he figured he’d cross that bridge when he came to it.

He spent his days pacing around the cell, clutching Mario’s old, bloodstained hat, wearing it whenever he couldn’t hold it. After a while of not talking at all, Luigi could sometimes be observed talking to himself, or to the hat.

King Boo still hadn’t come back.

Bowser still hadn’t tried to rescue him.

Luigi tried to reassure himself. Bowser probably needed more time to amass a force. Maybe the Boos had been messing with his time perception, and it really hadn’t been the near-month it seemed like. That was probably it. And besides, King Boo being away was a good thing.

~~Not like he was getting so awfully lonely that he’d take attention from anyone.~~

The next day, his pacing was interrupted by the sound of the door to the cell screeching open, causing his hands to jump straight to his ears to block out the horrific noise. When the sound had stopped, he looked towards the door.

King Boo floated there, his crown gem glowing brighter than ever, again looking smug as all hell.

Luigi promptly decided not to talk to him.

“Sorry for leaving you alone for so long, Luigi,” he said, though it didn’t sound remotely like an apology. “Things to do, kingdom to run, other kingdoms to stop from invading us… except the third one hasn’t happened.”

Luigi stayed silent, and just glared.

“Oh yes, my Boos told me about this thing you’re doing,” King Boo sighed. “It’ll get you nowhere. Now, come with me. I have something to show you.”

Luigi didn’t move, and King Boo’s eyes narrowed dangerously.

“I recall I told you that you were not to disobey us,” he warned, and pointed at the floor next to him. “Here. Now.”

“ _Fuck_ you,” Luigi spat, and sat himself cross-legged on the floor.

King Boo floated there for a second, before sighing and letting his gem glow to its fullest extent. Luigi was yanked off the floor and suspended in mid-air, unable to move.

“I did try to give you a chance to follow me willingly, but I guess we’re going to have to do this the hard way,” he said, turning and leaving the cell, pulling Luigi through the air effortlessly. “I said I had something I wanted to show you.”

Luigi was pulled through corridors so fast he didn’t remember how he’d gotten to the room with the huge TV screen in it. King Boo made him sit down, and then released him from the magic. He didn’t move, and the King grinned, motioning at the TV screen.

It flickered on, and Luigi gasped. Bowser was on the screen, giving a speech.

“…Poltergust Unit has suffered serious losses, as you know, and they’re extremely hard to produce. Unfortunately, we won’t be able to counter another attack for a few more days, but our engineers are hard at work on new machines, and Professor E. Gadd is also helping to design another model.”

King Boo hissed at the professor’s name. Luigi ignored it and kept staring at the screen.

“This also means that we can’t launch an attack to get our… to get Luigi back. Thank you all so much for all the support regarding him. I know things have been difficult for all of us, but we will continue to work to get through this threat and come out of the other side with new resources to prevent another of its kind. And Luigi, if you’re somehow able to see this, I want you to know that we’re not giving up. We’re all missing you, and we’re going to get you back soon.”

Bowser was using the voice he used when he just wanted to go to his room and curl up for a few hours.

Luigi reached towards the screen, thinking maybe he could comfort Bowser from afar, but it cut off before he could touch it. King Boo had shut down the projector.

“Well then,” he said evenly. “Seems like he hasn’t been able to find the resources he needs. And thanks to your outburst, he won’t ever get the chance. And neither will Mario.” King Boo turned and started floating towards the wall.

Luigi was confused for a moment, before it clicked. He’d threatened to come back and ‘finish what he started’ if Luigi messed up.

_He was going to destroy everyone and everything he loved._

“NO! No, wait, please, don’t kill them!”

King Boo stopped, and looked back, grinning. “…Go on.”

Luigi took a deep breath. “I-I remember what you said, at the start, but it was me who messed up, please, you can hurt me instead! Please, just- just don’t, don’t hurt them.”

“More, and I might consider it.”

“I don’t know what else to say!” Luigi cried, dropping to his knees. “Do whatever you want to me, but just- just please. Please leave them alone. I don’t care what you do to me,” his voice broke and he let his head drop.

“…”

Luigi didn’t look up.

“…If you insist. But do not complain about the punishment, or I’ll have to go back on this decision. This is your one free pass. I won’t be this merciful again.”

Luigi felt King Boo’s magic tugging at him and stood up obediently. He heard the King chuckle, before he floated away, Luigi following behind.

Whatever it was, he could take it.

~~He hoped.~~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> spoiler alert: he can but it sucks. it really sucks. i'll be continuing this storyline so don't worry you'll get some kinda ending, maybe a bonus fluff chapter on november 1st if i feel like it
> 
> maths test went well, except for the fractional/negative indices part. gotta brush up on that. but i have lots of time because it's HALF TERM, WAHOO


	17. I Did Not See That Coming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mario has a secret. Unfortunately for him, King Boo knows it all too well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is AU-IFIED i am NOT implying that canon mario did drugs ok ENJOY
> 
> (i posted this with literally 17 seconds to spare before midnight. i need to manage my time better lmaoooooo)

It wasn’t cold in the painting, but Mario could not stop shivering.

The whole ‘tortured with lightning’ thing probably had something to do with it. Not physically, but… mentally? That was probably it. It was reasonable, probably.

He wondered if Luigi would come to save him. Probably not. Maybe he’d make the same ~~deliberate~~ mental leap as him and decide he wasn’t really his brother. Maybe he just didn’t think Mario was worth saving.

_Please help me, Luigi._

It was a stupid thing to think. Mario would completely understand if Luigi didn’t want to save him; it wasn’t like Mario had any kind of moral high ground, considering he did the exact same thing.

He found himself shivering harder at the prospect of Luigi leaving him at this monster’s mercy.

_Luigi, please get here soon._

He kept thinking it like it was some kind of prayer; like Luigi could actually hear him. There had been rumours of twin bonds, but he figured he’d broken that a long time ago.

_I also really hope that King Boo never comes back. Ever. Even if I starve. I’d rather starve. Is this what happened to Luigi?_

King Boo actually didn’t come back for quite a while. When he did, Mario found himself abruptly speechless and unable to move, just staring up at the King, presumably looking terrified.

King Boo just laughed. “I figured you’d have a reaction like that. It’s fair enough, really, being struck by lightning probably isn’t fun.”

“A-and now you’re back to do it again,” Mario stuttered, his voice cracking.

“No,” said King Boo, making a motion with his arms that would probably be a shrug in a human. “Just to talk about something very interesting I found out about you.”

Mario’s brows furrowed. “What would that be?”

King Boo was silent for a few moments. Then, “Do you remember much about being a teenager?”

Mario blinked. “W-what?”

“Because I remember. I remember lots of things, Mario.” King Boo’s eyes gained a dangerous glint, and Mario stepped back in surprise. “I remember… seeing so much…”

\----

**Some decades earlier, Mario opened the door to his and Luigi’s room, stumbling and immediately crashing to the floor.**

**“Oh, hey bro,” Luigi said, sitting on the bottom bunk of their bed reading a book. “Where’ve you been for the last 3 hours- and what the hell happened to you?”**

**Something incomprehensible came out of Mario’s mouth, and he tried to push himself back up. Luigi sighed and slid himself off the bed to pull his brother up.**

**“Again, Mario? Didn’t I tell you to cut this shit out? You’re gonna have to repeat Year 10 if you keep this up. And you probably barely understand me anyway, why am I even bothering?” Luigi slapped a hand onto his face.**

**Mario groaned, and collapsed into his brother.**

**“Every time you do this it’s harder not to let the social workers find out,” Luigi snapped, pulling him over to the bed. “In here. I don’t trust you to take the top bunk, you look completely hammered.”**

**Mario let Luigi pull his shoes and hat off before he tucked the cover over him.**

**Luigi sighed again. “Get some rest, Mario. I’ll find you something to get rid of the headache tomorrow. Speaking of tomorrow, we’re gonna talk about this problem of yours when you’re coherent. Goodnight.”**

**Mario drifted off into sleep, and the last things he heard were Luigi pulling on his coat, mumbling, “Fuck, I hate when I have to do this,” and walking out of the room, closing the door behind him.**

**He thought he saw a flash of white in the corner, but he was too tired to care.**

\----

Mario inhaled slowly. “I’m sorry, you’ve kidnapped and tortured people and now you’re mad at me for doing stupid shit when I was 14?”

“14 to 18, actually.”

“What the hell are you even going to do with that information?” Mario yelled. “Tell everyone? No one’s going to care! People make mistakes!”

“Sure, you see it that way,” King Boo said, doing the arm-shrugging thing again, “but there are people who won’t. People who will be horrified to find out that their saviour was ‘making mistakes,’” he said, air-quoting.

Mario didn’t say anything.

“I wasn’t actually going to say anything. This is just a reminder. I know things about you that even you probably don’t remember.” King Boo grinned and floated out through the wall.

Mario stared at the empty room. Then sprinted up to the painting, screaming, and punched the glass. His hand hurt, but he felt less overwhelmingly angry.

And now he knew that he was at the mercy of someone who was not only a sadistic monster, but apparently had been stalking him.

_Fuck. This is bad._


	18. Panic! At The Disco

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luigi and friends go on holiday. It wasn't as fun as they'd said it would be.

_It’s going to be a really fun holiday._

That’s what they’d told him.

Luigi had gone to the seat he’d been assigned, strapped himself in, folded his tray table up, and made sure his belongings were carefully stowed away. But even though his friends had assured him that this time it really was safe, Luigi couldn’t help but think that he was walking straight into another trap.

King Boo had invited them to a hotel, once, and then forced Luigi into his worst nightmares – ghosts and the possibility of losing the people he loved. Now they were being invited to an island. Delfino, he recalled blurrily.

They hadn’t really been invited. They were like any other group of holidaymakers; paying for their own trip, accommodations, and food. Normally King Boo would pretend to give them stuff for free. But he couldn’t help fearing that the pattern had changed. Because if it had, even more people were at risk.

Travelling with him were not just Peach and Mario, but a great deal of Toad retainers, and even Bowser had been persuaded to come along with extensive warning. He’d brought his youngest son, Jem, along, as it was the summer holidays and he’d always wanted to travel.

He would have tried to make eye contact with Bowser, but he knew it would hurt him, so he stayed silent, and just clenched his fists.

When they arrived on Isle Delfino, the citizens greeted them warmly, just as the ghosts had done.

_You can’t trust any of them. They’re all out to get you. Why did you let Bowser and Jem come here? Why did you let yourself come here?_

Their hotel was amazing, the beaches were beautiful and so was the hotel pool and spa. The island had lovely flora, and the locals were almost always friendly. But after a few days, Luigi still didn’t feel better about any of it.

 _What if it’s another trick?_ His mind whispered to him at the darkest time of the night, when he was tossing and turning, unable to rest out of pure terror that he’d wake up to the screams of his loved ones, or King Boo floating in front of him holding a painting frame. _What if all this has just been to trick you, to create a false sense of security, so you won’t see him coming when he attacks?_

So Luigi stayed paranoid through the most exquisite meals, stayed terrified when his friends were having a splash war in the sea (which Bowser won by miles), and nothing changed until finally, on the last night of the trip, he couldn’t take it anymore.

He considered asking Bowser for help, but decided he’d already dumped enough shit on him for one lifetime, so he went to Mario’s room instead. Mario was slouched on one of the chairs, messing with his phone and eating pizza, and looked up immediately when he heard Luigi knock.

“Coming!” he yelled, flinging his phone away, shooting across the room and opening the door. “Oh, hey Luigi. You okay? You’ve been acting weird all week.”

“Yeah, that’s- that’s why I’m here,” Luigi sighed. “About this whole thing. You remember the Last Resort, right?”

“Yeah, of course?” Mario tilted his head to the side and reached over to pat the seat next to him. “Why wouldn’t I? You almost died several times.”

Luigi walked over and sat down, stretching out in the chair. “…I’m sure you’ve noticed that I haven’t exactly been having fun on this trip.”

“Uh huh?”

“That’s why.”

“The Last Resort?” Mario asked, his eyes narrowing. “Luigi, King Boo hasn’t been threatening you, has he?”

“Only in my mind,” Luigi said heavily. “Every time we try to go somewhere together, something awful happens. I can’t help but think-” he stifled a sob- “that it’s going to be the same again here.”

Mario reached over to hug him, and Luigi burst into disgusting tears as soon as his hand touched him.

He recoiled immediately. “Luigi! I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

“No,” Luigi sniffed, and Mario hesitated, then reached back over to pull him in for a hug. “It’s just- I didn’t ever think the fear of it would be able to control me this much, but it is! I wish- I wish I didn’t let him control me as much as this…”

“Alright, stop that train of thought right there,” Mario interrupted firmly. “You’re not ‘letting him control you’ or whatever. This is on him, all on him, not you. You know what? I was scared about coming here too. And I’m sure Peach was, and Bowser probably, and the Toads- well, they’re kinda oblivious, but you get the picture. You think it makes you weak, right? I used to think that about myself after he kidnapped me. I guess the fear is just part of what makes us human.”

Luigi took a deep breath, and clung to his brother tightly. “What if I can never go anywhere again without this horrible fear?”

“I’d understand if you wanted to do that, and I’d support you fully to make up for being an asshole. Hell, I’ll create a beach in the Dark Lands myself so we can all chill out for once, if you want.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Luigi said. “Make a beach of what? Lava?”

“Well, possible ‘floor is lava’ jokes aside, the Koopa Kingdom has a nice beach region, would you feel safer there? You don’t have to push yourself, it’s more important that you have a good time.”

Luigi thought about it. “In Koopa Kingdom, pretty much everywhere has intruder-ghost alarms because the outsider groups can be such a threat, so yes, definitely.”

“Alright, I’ll ask Bowser.”

“Not now!” Luigi exclaimed. “He’s probably asleep!”

Mario shrugged. “Fair enough, I’ll ask tomorrow. Want some pizza? Oh, and soda, you’ve been crying way too hard to be hydrated.”

So Luigi dried his tears and shared a pizza box with his brother, and when they left the island, Mario already raving about a trip to the beach regions in Koopa Kingdom and Bowser fervently agreeing with him, he still didn’t feel safe there, but he at least felt content.

It hadn’t been a fun holiday, but at least it had been productive, in a way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> watch bowser find out about luigi's panic attack and promptly relieve him of all duties for a week like a good dad


	19. Broken Hearts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> King Boo remembers. And wishes he hadn't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> king boo is a jerk but his past self was an angel

The first day they’d taken King Boo to the containment unit in Bowser’s castle, he was – in a way – actually grateful, though he’d never show it.

At first, he’d been in that damned professor’s lab with all the other annoying ghosts, and worst of all, with Hellen I-don’t-take-no-for-an-answer Gravely. Being away from her was probably the best part of ~~living~~ existing in Luigi’s basement (it wasn’t really Luigi’s, but that was besides the point). The first few days, he continued to just be thankful that he didn’t have to deal with that woman. Seriously, she couldn’t take a simple, “Lady, I’m a _homosexual_ ,” and fuck off? King Boo almost shivered thinking of her utter obsessiveness. Was this how Luigi felt every day dealing with him?

It was nice being away from the other ghosts, but it would have quickly gotten lonely if Luigi hadn’t come down to visit him almost every day. He had no idea why he was doing it. The first few days, he snapped at Luigi in the ways he knew hurt him the most. Telling him his brother was just going to betray him again, taunting him about the time he’d spent in the group home, until Luigi had had enough and left him alone.

But he quickly grew to hate being alone. There was nothing to do, except think about things, which he didn’t like doing either. No one else came to see him either, so slowly the taunting stopped. Outbursts happened occasionally, of course, but Luigi often stayed longer than he had before.

…why was he counting this as a win again? Oh, right, because the longer Luigi stayed with him the less time he had to work on whatever plan they had to get rid of him forever. And the more he could learn, because while he knew Luigi’s life inside out, he didn’t know his brain.

Once, he complained about being bored, and the next day Luigi dropped a pack of crosswords into the containment unit’s slot and left without a word.

King Boo didn’t really want to try, but as time dragged on, he found his mind being dragged back into some rather unpleasant times, so he swallowed his pride and tried to solve one. Key word: tried. The letters in the puzzle shifted places every time he looked at them, and he had no idea what they said anyway, so he turned the paper over and started absent-mindedly doodling on it instead.

“Is this some kind of sick joke?” he’d asked Luigi the next day, and Luigi had actually had the gall to look _confused._ “Has it entirely slipped your mind that I cannot read?”

Luigi had the decency to look slightly guilty. “I forgot.”

“Apparently so,” King Boo snapped, and continued drawing.

There was silence, and for a minute he thought Luigi had left, until, “Nice drawing,” he said, peering down from the window into the unit. “Looks like me.”

King Boo looked down at it. It did look a lot like Luigi – eerily like Luigi – but… “It’s not you,” he said, not knowing how he knew.

Luigi just shrugged, left, and came back the next day with a sketchpad. “If you’re drawing, you’re not plotting to hurt me or my friends,” he said. Presumably some kind of explanation; making sure he knew that Luigi wasn’t just being nice.

“I can multitask, you know,” he’d snarked back at him, but sighed and started drawing anyway.

He really had tried to think of plans, but there wasn’t much he could do except wait for someone to free him. Ironic, he thought, laughing in his head.

He couldn’t draw all day either, and since he didn’t need sleep, this left him with a lot of time to think, as much as he hated the idea. Again, he tried to think of escape plans, poked and prodded at the walls for weaknesses with the little amount of magic he had left without his crown gem.

But then it started sinking into something more, something deeper. People he’d known in the Before. No Boo remembered much Before their death unless they really tried hard. Apparently, it also worked if you were really bored.

Sometimes he remembered a field. Sun beating down on him, burning his skin as he sweated. Had he been working? He did die via wheat thresher, so that was probably reasonable to assume-

His mind stopped as he realised what he was doing. He was not supposed to think about the Before. Other Boo clans allowed it, but that was why they were so much weaker than his.

In his defence, he really tried. But his mind would always drift back to something about the Before.

Sometimes he remembered feelings. Fear. Anguish. Anger. Even sorrow sometimes.

Sometimes he remembered people. His sister – he’d had a sister, he knew now. His mother and father, hopefully both rotting in the Underwhere. The leader of the church at the nearby town, who he also hoped was rotting in the Underwhere. The people who worked on the farm, though not by choice, who spoke different languages and didn’t seem to like him very much. One special person who’d… comforted him? The thought seemed ludicrous. King Boo did not need comforting. ~~But maybe whoever he was Before had.~~

Sometimes he remembered death. Apparently, he’d killed someone at some point, with some kind of rifle. And apparently, he hadn’t wanted to. That was news to him; he thought he’d never killed before. Odd.

He remembered his own death, of course; the one thing that Boos always remembered about the Before. He remembered his sister’s frailty, the dirty water they drunk having finally caught up with her. Cholera, they called it, but she still survived him. He didn’t know what happened to her.

He remembered the death of that one special person, burning at the stake, accused of being a witch because he claimed to be the twin brother of the head of the church, who had denied the rumours and had him burned at the stake before being executed himself. The person Before had been unable to do anything about it. If Luigi were being burned at the stake by someone who wasn’t him, he would most definitely intervene now.

He thought about that special person and looked back at his first drawing on the crossword. He’d redrawn it more neatly now onto proper paper, but it was the first.

Something wet splattered onto the page, and it took King Boo far too long to realise that he was crying for someone he didn’t remember.

How pathetic of him. ~~~~

~~He wished he didn’t remember anything at all.~~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me and my vague-ass mtmb references hahaha
> 
> also remember that 'dyslexic character' tag? yeah it's king boo


	20. Toto, I Have a Feeling We're Not in Kansas Anymore

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The chronicles of lost Luigis.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> au-ified notice is kiiiinda important, particularly for waluigi. waluigi is... a stupid teenager who means well and uses too many swears. wario is his brother. they both do stupid stuff. sometimes waluigi does extra stupid stuff that he doesn't want wario to know about. that's it really.
> 
> enjoy!

Luigi got lost for the first time when he was four years old. His parents left him in a store, whether by accident or on purpose he would never know.

He remembered running around the store as fast as his freakish legs could carry him, screaming, “Mama! Dada! Malio!” at the top of his lungs, because he still hadn’t mastered his Rs yet, and when he dashed outside and found his parents and brother standing on the pavement, he burst into noisy tears and grabbed his mother’s hand.

She’d sighed, but hadn’t let Luigi go. When they got home, she told him that this was a lesson to be more careful.

He didn’t get lost again until he was twelve and running from a group of older children who had decided that he was a good target because of his lanky frame, his quiet behaviour and his worn-out clothes compared to his brother who always had the best.

Luigi was much faster than them, but they knew the streets better, which ironically helped him in getting so lost that they couldn’t find him.

That particular incident ended in the police arresting him for trespassing, because apparently he’d been in someone’s back yard. He was lucky he got some of the better ones who weren’t looking to arrest someone for kicks, and they let him off with an unofficial warning after learning of his circumstances.

He honestly would rather have spent the night in a cell, Luigi thought as he lay in bed, stomach growling after having been denied dinner for making so much fuss.

The next time, he was fourteen. He’d just received the word that his and Mario’s parents had been killed in jail – apparently whoever else was in there didn’t take kindly to abusers – which he didn’t particularly mind, but they’d had next to no inheritance.

Now, their group home wasn’t being funded enough to even be able to feed the kids in their care, so Luigi and almost all the other kids were out looking for food. Something dropped on the street, a meal left behind at an outside restaurant. But soon enough there was none of that left, so the remaining kids – including Luigi – reluctantly turned to dumpsters.

Luigi had a small amount of food in a bag, but it wasn’t enough for him and Mario (he didn’t know where Mario had gone, but it wasn’t food hunting), so he’d gone searching more, gone into a different part of Toad City, and now he was lost.

He had to be careful about where he found food. Some of the residents would yell at him angrily if he tried to take ‘their’ food, never mind that they’d already thrown it away. Eventually he decided that he’d had enough, and started to trek home, then realised he didn’t know where the home was.

Luigi had wandered for hours. Cold and hungry, he decided to eat his share of the food before he got home. He was chewing on a half-rotten apple when he heard someone yell, “Luigi, what the hell are you doing here?” and almost dropped his food.

It was only Waluigi, and he breathed a sigh of relief. He must have wandered into the slightly more decent part of town. “Looking for food,” he said, showing his kinda-sorta-friend the apple.

“What the fuck is that,” Waluigi snorted in disgust. “That isn’t food. Get in here, idiot,” he grabbed him, and before Luigi could say anything, dragged him into a building.

It was warm inside, and Luigi actually shivered; he knew he’d been cold, but not that cold. “Pick something,” Waluigi said, shoving a menu at him.

“I don’t have any money on me,” Luigi replied.

“I know, pick something.”

“You don’t have to-”

“I know that too. Pick something.”

He knew that he was never gonna get past Waluigi’s utter stubbornness, so he sighed and picked something off the menu. The other teen seemed slightly annoyed when he took the time to divide everything in half, counting every chip and shoving one half in his bag, before devouring the other half.

“Why are you even here anyway?” Waluigi questioned. “Don’t those annoying social workers know that we need food to live?”

“They do, but they don’t even have the funding to feed us,” Luigi said heavily. “To be honest, I don’t know what I’m gonna do. Mario refuses to get a job. I don’t know where he goes every night. My job pays me way below minimum wage, and that’s legal because I’m a minor. I can’t afford to buy food and school supplies and clothes and everything else, and to be honest I don’t know if I can even buy the food by itself! Not to mention there are other kids there who can’t do the work, and I can’t let them go hungry either. I really… I really don’t know what to do.”

Waluigi listened, then spoke grimly. “Luigi. I think I might be able to help, on one condition.”

“Uh huh?”

“Don’t tell Wario I told you about this.”

“O…kay? Sure.”

“I’m serious,” Waluigi snapped. “Okay. I think I know someone that can help you.”

Just like Luigi, the memories after that were lost.

\----

The only other time he could remember being lost, was when he was running from King Boo.

He’d been chained up in the basement. At some point, someone had untied him to do a quick medical check so that King Boo’s favourite punching bag wouldn’t die, and he’d bolted.

He was running through Boo Woods, the spiky trees catching on his still-bare chest and tearing the skin, but Luigi didn’t stop. The Boos weren’t far behind him, and they were much faster, even though they had a lot of ground to cover looking for him.

The woods never seemed to end, even though he could see the Mushroom Kingdom in the distance. He ran towards it, but the closer he got to it, the more fog covered it. Soon, he was directionless, just desperately running in hopes to get somewhere safe.

His heart started to beat faster, and his breath quickened, more than it should have for his running pace. He was panicking, but he couldn’t stop, and it only made him run faster. Almost made him want them to find him, so it could just be over with already.

~~Maybe they’d already found him, and were just toying with him.~~

Eventually he was found. Not by friends, by foes. He was yanked off his feet mid-step and thrown onto his back, and dragged all the way back to the mansion, his Boo captors giggling in his ears the whole way, giving him the occasional extra cut with their fangs.

“Did you really think you could run away from me, Luigi?” King Boo had snarled when he’d arrived back, before throwing him back in the cell, chained up even tighter than before.

The worst part was that Luigi almost preferred it to the terror of being lost.


	21. I Don't Feel So Well

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luigi receives punishment for trying to run away from the Boos.
> 
> It goes just a bit too far.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> continuation of 1 and the end of 20. we're back to KB being an asshole everyone! this time by ACCIDENT!
> 
> ALMOST FORGOT TO ADD REGULAR APOLOGY TO LUIGI! AAAAAAA
> 
> enjoy the pain :)

When Luigi had first woken up in the dungeon, chained to that damn metal pole, the cuts the metal had made in his skin had felt like swords. Now, they didn’t feel like anything at all.

After that escape attempt, he’d been left alone for gosh knows how long. Someone had stuck a needle into his arm, and one of the Boos must have been feeding him something through, presumably, an IV, because he sure as hell was not being given any food.

He stayed alone for weeks. Isolation as punishment? At first, Luigi was sure it wasn’t going to work, because it wasn’t like he hadn’t faced isolation before. But now?

Since there was no one taking care of him, he constantly soiled his pants, and couldn’t change them either. He was just left there in his own filth, feeling disgusted and humiliated. As the weeks passed and his stomach atrophied, there was less and less coming out.

Luigi’s muscles were also starting to atrophy. He was losing weight, too, because he wasn’t being fed properly. Sometimes the Boos would forget to feed him. Sometimes they’d give him too much. It never got to critical levels, but it still felt awful whenever either scenario happened.

After a while, sores and ringworm started to appear on his filthy, unwashed skin, and quickly spread almost everywhere. His body would itch all over, but his hands were tied, so he was unable to even scratch himself.

Days – no, weeks – passed, and still Luigi did not see a single ghost. He was starting to get desperate.

Not just for relief from the constant pain, the filth, but also from the loneliness, which was beginning to tear at his brain. His brain was getting slower too. His thoughts just took longer, any small movements he could make felt like they took whole minutes for his body to register.

As another part of the punishment, they’d taken away the heating, which Luigi had had no idea they even had in his room, it was already so cold. Now it felt below freezing, and without a shirt it was even worse. His toes and fingers felt numb and frozen in the night, and he had to resort to sleeping during what was presumably the day, because it was too cold any other time.

He didn’t sleep properly, either. He dozed and woke in fitful bursts, and he’d completely lost track of time. It could have been a year for all he knew.

A year? No, someone would have saved him.

_But what if they haven’t? What if they didn’t think you were worth it? Just like the time all those years ago, where Mario left you… he’s done it again, hasn’t he?_

He was too cold to think.

So, so cold. So tired, and hungry and thirsty and there was so much pain and filth all over him.

His skin was starting to turn red, later even blue in places, mostly around the cuts left by the chains. He was too hot and too cold at the same time now. Nothing was coming out of his bladder, and he dry-heaved every time he woke up. There was nothing left to vomit.

Luigi wanted to go to sleep.

He wanted to sleep so badly, and possibly to never wake up.

Just a few minutes…

\----

When King Boo at last decided that Luigi had had enough punishment, it was almost too late.

In all his years of death, he’d forgotten all the different reactions the human body could have to things. So when he floated into the room and it smelt like death, he instantly knew he’d done something horribly wrong.

Luigi was breathing fast. Too fast. His lips were blue and his skin around some cuts was swollen and blotchy. There was dry heave all over the floor, his trousers were completely soiled with urine and faeces, and when King Boo touched him, he felt as cold as ice.

But he was still breathing. He could work with that.

He called one of the Boos who’d accompanied him in, told her to get to the few Boos who’d decided to be interested in living medicine, and bring them over here as fast as possible. Sepsis, he’d said, or maybe hypothermia, or maybe even both.

Whatever it was, he _could not_ let Luigi die from it. It was too soon. His plan was only just beginning.

Soon enough, they were here. They didn’t have to ask if King Boo wanted Luigi alive. They just took him and left while the King cursed his own utter stupidity.

It took Luigi weeks to become conscious again, and when he did regain consciousness, he slurred his words, was utterly incoherent, and didn’t seem to be responding to anything anyone said or did. King Boo even let lightning flash in his appendage once, and Luigi didn’t react at all.

When he finally, finally regained coherence after a whole extra month even with his damned healing factor, the first thing he did was have a panic attack.

King Boo decided he’d been punished enough for now, and even left off the chains when he was well enough to go back to the cell.

_At least this experience taught him the consequences of trying to run from me. Surprising that he’s even had to try. I would have thought that someone would try to find him by now._

_Oh well. More fun for me._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> felt cute, might try to draw KB from the Before and add it into a future chapter. don't count on it though lol i'm REALLY inconsistent with my art.
> 
> had a bad day today so i'm going to share something nice: these characters in among us. king boo mains black and is an efficient machine, whether crewmate or impostor. luigi mains green (not lime) and kinda neglects tasks but is a great detective, above average at impostor. mario mains blue (not cyan) and is a mess at everything. dies first, never does tasks, gets caught out immediately. somehow if these three all get impostor at once, they kill everyone before there's even one meeting. bonus: bowser mains yellow and everyone expects him to hate impostor but he LOVES IT
> 
> ok i'm done with among us concepts. have a good day/night/life/among us game
> 
> ALSO ALSO here's my tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/itsreganingrain i might occasionally post art or other stuff related to this universe. other than that i mostly post autism/trans stuff, although i'm thinking of turning it into a blog for mostly YIFO. either way you can check it out if you want k bye


	22. Do These Tacos Taste Funny To You?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luigi goes to a Hallowe'en party, and has a drink.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prequel to 1. sorry if it's short or anyone's OOC, this is an AU after all and i'm also really sleep deprived and rushing because it's my bedtime rn and the right side of my body decided not to function today hahaaaaaaa
> 
> WARNING. THERE WILL BE AMONG US REFERENCES. PLEASE FORGIVE THE AMONG US REFERENCES. I JUST LOVE THE GAME SO DAMN MUCH.
> 
> enjoy, gl hf (or not)

When Luigi had decided to go to this Hallowe’en party, he’d expected nice costumes, maybe some haphazardly thrown together ones. The occasional trick, like… putting spinach in a brownie. At worst, he’d expected whoever the hell organised this event to ignore the autism-friendly advice they’d been given, and provide a few jumpscares. What actually happened was… not what he’d had in mind, to say the least.

He’d arrived in a dark green astronaut suit, waving a paper knife around for dramatic effect. Mario had come as a generic vampire.

“You have no _taste_ ,” Luigi had complained when he’d saw him. He’d promptly been shoved.

Bowser hadn’t really done much, which was fine considering the circumstances in Luigi’s opinion, but he’d made the effort to take off his shell and put on a skeleton costume. The first thing he did when he arrived was tell everyone about the kids' Hallowe'en party earlier, and that Jem had come in a full-blown demon outfit.

“Fair enough,” Bowser had said, ruffling Jem's hair when he'd made the outfit choice. “You are an absolute demon on the racetrack.”

Peach had come in a witch's outfit, except instead of it being the generic dark-coloured one, it was pink, with a purple jacket. Daisy had shown up as a ninja, and Luigi didn't even notice her until she snuck up behind him and jumped on top of him, knocking out one of the decorated tables.

"Your _face_ , Luigi!" she'd said, roaring with laughter after he'd wrestled her to the ground, convinced he was being attacked. He'd just given her an unimpressed stare until she'd laughed again and shot off to talk to Peach.

"Pretty sure she's already drunk," he grumbled to his brother.

Speaking of drunkenness, it wasn't long before more people from the surrounding kingdoms arrived and the party really kicked off. Most Toads came as themselves, finding it difficult to obtain costumes made for them, but some had really gone all out. Luigi added 'manipulate the fashion industry into creating accessible clothing options' to his mental to-do list.

They saw several other astronauts at the party. The most noticeable was someone in a black astronaut suit who showed up about half an hour in - and they had plenty of mini astronauts following them around, too. Hopefully just short people; kids were definitely not supposed to be here. Luigi shot finger guns at the guy, who threw a thumbs-up back at him. Some of their minis even waved at him.

Ten minutes after that, Luigi got a text from Prince Peasley, who he'd been expecting at the party, apologising sincerely and saying that he'd be unable to come to the party, as there was serious business to deal with in the Beanbean Kingdom. Luigi completely understood, and said so in his response. Then Peasley badgered him to go enjoy the party, so he switched off his phone and went to join his friends. The hall was now packed with people, Toads, humans, Koopas, even a few Beans who'd commuted for the event. Luigi was slightly shaken at first when he saw some Boos in the corner, then recognised them as the 'items' from Mario Kart, breathed a sigh of relief, and was instantly swarmed by Boo friends.

Pretty much everyone had arrived after that, except for some stragglers he didn't know. People started to act strangely. Mario, voice slurred, told him he was, "the best brother in the world." Luigi just shook his head; it'd wear off by tomorrow. Alcohol does strange things to people, and that made things go wrong.

Security ended up having to kick some idiot out for trying to sell drugs. More than a few had gotten their hands on them, by accident or purposely, so the party had to be briefly halted in order to administer drug tests. Alcohol was still allowed, though, and as the party dragged on, judgements clouded even further.

"Just one drink!" Mario pestered Luigi.

"I didn't want my judgement to be inhibited," Luigi responded.

"C'mon, Weeg, you're no fun like this," Daisy slurred, punching his shoulder a bit too hard. "Relax! Have some fun!"

So Luigi had agreed to just one drink. He hadn't noticed the astronaut in the black suit nod to one of their minis, and hadn't seen said mini slip something into the drink. He drained it immediately, and went to dance.

Exactly nineteen minutes later, he noticed that the music playing at the party was starting to echo. Another thirty seconds, and he was running from the dance floor groggily, the world spinning around him. He tried to get to his friends, tried to tell them what was going on, that his drink had been tampered with, but he was fading fast.

The last thing he heard was a vaguely familiar voice saying, "Don't worry, I've got him," and then he understood nothing.

Knew nothing.

_Enjoy the sleep while it lasts, Luigi..._


	23. What's a Whumpee Gotta Do to Get Some Sleep Around Here?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You can't sleep when trapped inside a painting.
> 
> Luigi, having been kidnapped in the early hours of the morning, finds this out the hard way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> going on holiday time! or as close to one as you can currently get! hopefully i'll still be able to write. i am bringing laptop with me. ENJOY
> 
> ps: regular apology to luigi since you guys seem to enjoy it. i'm sorry luigi

For a while after the torture, Luigi had been terrified. Now, he’d been awake for roughly 30 hours, and he was starting to feel utterly numb. And like something was horribly wrong.

When Luigi had been dragged out of bed and kidnapped by the Boos, it was 3am, so he was understandably tired. Now? He was exhausted. He wanted to sleep so badly – almost wished that he’d never wake up.

As wonderful as it was not being bothered by the Boos, it was also rather boring being left alone. He definitely preferred it, but that didn’t mean it was a good option. So, his one option left was to sleep. He was pretty tired, after all.

He laid his head down on the stone floor. It wasn’t cold, but it was uncomfortable, so he pulled off his pyjama shirt and made a pillow out of it. No need for a blanket; the temperature, eerily, stayed the same, perfectly balanced between warm and cold.

_Close your eyes and think of nothing, or everything, whatever works for you…_

So, he did that. His eyes remained closed for quite a while. But he did not fall asleep.

“Okay, something’s wrong,” Luigi said out loud, abruptly sitting up. Luigi did not have sleeping problems. Whatever happened, whenever it was time to sleep, he was out like a light. Even if he was starving or in pain, whatever.

He tried again, counting the seconds in his head like some people would count sheep. Thirty whole minutes passed, and still nothing happened. He was just stuck in this waking nightmare.

Luigi stared out towards the outside world. His eyes were bloodshot and drooping, and he felt really awful and groggy in general. At this point, he was so sleep deprived that he almost wanted King Boo to come back so he could ask what the hell was going on.

King Boo hadn’t come back yet, though, so Luigi stubbornly resolved to keep trying. At least closing his eyes helped to get rid of the awful stinging.

The world was darkness from then on, as Luigi had decided not to open his eyes until someone came back, to rescue him or… otherwise.

When King Boo finally returned, Luigi didn’t actually feel any more tired than he had before, but the time he spent in that state was starting to make him feel even worse. He needed sleep, and yet it would not come to him.

“What did you do to this place?” Luigi demanded of King Boo the second he felt his ghastly aura returning to the room (he didn’t quite know how he could feel ghost auras, but the ability sure didn’t hurt).

“Nothing, why?”

Luigi huffed. “This place won’t let me sleep.”

“Are you sure it’s not the lightning?” King Boo said, grinning, and just from that awful smile Luigi knew he’d done something. “I hear torture or trauma in general can have adverse effects on your sleep patterns.”

“No. You did something.”

“Luigi!” King Boo said, feigning a hurt look. “Would I really do anything to cause you sleep deprivation?”

“Yes, you would.”

“I didn’t really do anything,” King Boo said. “It’s just the pocket dimension you’re trapped in. For simplicity, it… freezes time, in a way, so people imprisoned in them don’t need to eat, drink, any other of those human body processes… and they don’t need to sleep, either.”

“I’m tired.”

“But you don’t need to sleep. Your body is frozen in the state it was in when you entered the painting.”

Luigi narrowed his eyes. “Bet that had absolutely nothing to do with kidnapping me at 3am and leaving me in a tired state for however long I’m going to be here.”

King Boo laughed. “You of all people should know that it’s not a good idea to backtalk your captor, but I’m sure you’re very sleep deprived, so I’ll let it slide. If you’re good, one day I might take you out of there and let you sleep.”

“One day…” Luigi said slowly. “How long am I going to be here?”

“Oh, possibly…” King Boo held his appendage to his mouth, as though thinking about it, then dropped it back to his side and swept right up to the painting frame. “Forever!”

Luigi’s heart froze. “Forever?”

King Boo nodded, grinning. “After I’ve trapped your brother, who do you think will be left to save you?”

Luigi didn’t respond besides a weakly mumbled, “He won’t come.”

“We’ll see about that. Soon enough, there will be no one left. Now, do enjoy your stay, Luigi!” King Boo leaned forward, inhaled deeply, and then lashed his tongue up the painting before leaving.

Luigi spent the next few hours curled up in a ball covered in the wet, slimy feeling of saliva, desperately hoping that the King was lying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> probably one of you: nOOOOOOO you can't just create random rules out of nowhere with no explanation!
> 
> me: hehehe sleep deprivation painting go BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR


	24. You're Not Making Any Sense

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> King Boo has gained a new power, and tests it on Luigi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> continuation of the storyline set up in chapters 9, 11, and 16. iiiiiit's punishment tiiiiime! (forgive me)
> 
> enjoy

King Boo had led Luigi back to his cell, and told him to sit on the floor in the middle of the room. After the display earlier, Luigi hadn’t dared disobey, so he’d gone where directed. Now he was sitting on his knees, shaking in anticipation.

He’d messed up. He’d broken the one hard-and-fast rule that had been set for him. Now, he was going to face the consequences. He prayed they wouldn’t be too bad.

“I don’t know if you’ve realised this, but I’ve acquired a few new powers recently,” King Boo was saying, and Luigi forced himself to pay attention. “For your punishment, I’m going to be testing one on you.”

_Oh, great. Not another one._

The King laughed. “Yes, another one,” he said, and Luigi took a moment to realise that he’d said that out loud, then promptly covered his mouth with his hands.

“You won’t need that in a moment,” he heard, and then, “I’m getting rather impatient. I was excited to try this out, so let’s begin!”

King Boo’s crown flashed for a second, and there was nothing.

At first, Luigi thought he’d fallen unconscious. But no; he could still think vividly, so he tried pinching himself.

_Wait. Where are my arms? Where’s my body?_

The only thing he could feel was utter horror washing over whatever was currently ‘him’. He couldn’t see anything, or hear anything, or smell or taste. He couldn’t feel his body. _He couldn’t feel his body._ It was like he just existed as a brain. No, it was like he existed as a formless cloud. Or like he didn’t exist at all.

Luigi tried screaming. Either nothing came out, or he couldn’t hear it. Whichever it was, it didn’t matter, because the sound wasn’t there. He kept trying, screaming and screaming before he thought _oh god what if I accidentally damage my vocal cords_ and abruptly stopped.

Did he even have vocal cords anymore?

He certainly didn’t have time awareness, because it felt like he was in there for hours. Or seconds, or weeks, or minutes. Luigi had no way of knowing. The only thing he could do was exist and wait for it to be over. King Boo had said this was a punishment, right? That meant he probably wouldn’t leave him in here forever.

Probably.

Luigi waited, and waited, and then he was being hit with everything at once and it was too bright, he could hear the radiator and the air flow and some kind of weird buzzing noise, and King Boo’s cackling felt like it was splitting his ears open.

He’d longed for sensory input again, but now he found himself slamming his eyes shut and plugging his fingers into his ears as whatever controlled that particular function regulated itself. By the time he felt able to open his eyes, King Boo was still laughing.

“That was much more fun than I expected it to be,” he wheezed. “You were struggling so hard to find your own body even though you were in it! Shall we go again?”

“NO!” Luigi screamed, curling into a ball. “DON’T PUT ME BACK IN THERE?”

“Back in where?” King Boo said, chortling. “It’s still your body! Besides, this is your punishment. So either you take it, or I drag you back over to Bowser’s castle and make you watch me kill and burn everything. And then I’ll take you to the Mushroom Kingdom and do the same. Ooh, where else? Beanbean? Pi’illo Island?”

“Do it again, then,” Luigi half-sobbed. “Just don’t hurt anyone else.”

King Boo grinned, and one gem flash later, Luigi was back in his own personal hell.

On and off it went for a few hours. Sometimes Luigi screamed, or frantically clawed at his own body, desperately trying to find something. Occasionally King Boo would have to use magic to freeze his hands in place before he caused himself serious damage by accident.

When King Boo finally decided that Luigi knew the consequences of defiance by now, he released the hold on his senses, and Luigi fell to the ground, gasping and running his hands over himself, taking in every feeling even as he was overstimulated by the sudden rush of sense.

“I believe that’s enough for now. Do you understand the consequences of defiance, Luigi?”

Luigi frantically nodded. Then, “What did you do to me?” he asked.

“Shut off your nervous system,” King Boo answered. “Taste, smell, sight, hearing, and of course touch can all be taken away in an instant. I can plunge you back into that hell whenever I want, Luigi. Remember that.”

_How could I forget, now?_


	25. I Think I'll Just Collapse Right Here, Thanks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Unsurprisingly, having a plant shoved inside your brain can lead to some side effects.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol super paper mario time
> 
> sorry if i got something wrong- actually I don't HAVE to be sorry, i can just say it's an AU and everything'll be fine! Good job me!
> 
> (holiday's fun btw if anyone was wondering)
> 
> ok eNJOY (ps sorry luigi)

Luigi’s head was spinning.

He’d been mind-controlled. He’d been mind-controlled. Someone had put a goddamn _plant_ into his brain. And he felt absolutely awful.

“Luigi!” he heard multiple people shout, multiple times, and it made his head ache.

“’m up, don’ yell at me,” he grumbled, trying to shift to his feet, but that just made even more pain shoot through his head. They were saying something again, but his ears were ringing so much that he could hardly hear a thing.

“Ears,” he offered helpfully. At least he thought that was what he was saying. He couldn’t really hear himself at the moment.

They looked at each other with confusion. Bowser said something, but he still couldn’t hear it with the ringing. Mario narrowed his eyes, but Peach looked like she had an idea. Bowser immediately relaxed after she told him her idea, and pulled a whiteboard and pen from seemingly nowhere, scribbling frantically in block capitals.

**YOU WERE BRAINWASHED.**

“I know,” Luigi tried to tell them. “What else?”

**FORCED TO FUSE, AND TO FIGHT US.**

“Okay,” he said. “My ears hurt.”

**SIDE EFFECT OF POSSESSION?**

“Probably.” Luigi rubbed his ears, as though that would make the ringing go away, and surprisingly it did lessen, but only slightly. “I remember something about a void?”

**IT’S DISAPPEARED. WORLDS ARE SAFE.**

“That’s a relief.”

Bowser nodded and gave him a thumbs-up.

“Was it Dimentio, and is he dead now?”

**YES. AND PROBABLY. HE EXPLODED.**

“Good to know. Can we go home now?”

**ABSOLUTELY.**

\----

Luigi was taken to hospital immediately on return to their world. The doctors didn’t find anything huge, just a few side effects from the Floro Sprout. Obviously, having a plant rooting through your brain would cause some odd things to happen.

He didn’t stay overnight, and was whisked back to Bowser’s castle as soon as he was discharged. Bowser whipped out the whiteboard and wrote, **“YOU’RE OFF WORK FOR AT LEAST A MONTH,”** and completely ignored Luigi’s protests. It was probably for the best, he thought after his head still wouldn’t stop pounding hours later. He wouldn’t be able to do anything like this.

Luigi was mostly bedridden for a week. He hadn’t noticed initially, but with the possession came awful vertigo, muscle weakening, brain fog, and general disorientation. Bowser came up with food at regular intervals, and quickly hurried away whenever Luigi asked him about his own diet.

The week was spent sleeping, most of the time. His phone was always a good boredom-beater, but it hurt his head to look at it, so he picked up a book, Kindle or paper, both of which were far easier on his eyes. The lights in his room also had to be dimmed, and loud sounds made the tinnitus return again.

After the week had passed, he was up and about again, though not for long. He still had to sleep a lot, more so now that he was returning to physical activity. Jem, who was being taken care of by the visiting Wendy, tried extra hard to be quiet for the sake of Luigi’s ears.

He also started physiotherapy to help his weakened muscles, although he didn’t need a great deal of it. The appointments were mostly physiotherapists assigning exercises and checking his progress, and thanks to his natural strength he recovered far more quickly than expected.

Bowser still gave him another month off. “You didn’t even break for weekends when you first came here,” he said when Luigi tried to argue. “You definitely earned the leave.” After six weeks he was probably recovered enough to start work again, but decided to take the extra time; it was pointless fighting it. It was a joy to finally restart and sink his teeth back into some paperwork.

The tinnitus had gotten quieter after Luigi had had a proper rest, but it was still there, and honestly never really went away. He got used to it, and it was almost comforting after a while. Eventually it became unnoticeable unless he was paying attention to it.

The migraines went away very quickly, and didn’t return except on occasion, where Luigi would get a heavy attack and have to take time off work. Bowser was very understanding each time, and Luigi continuously spent that free time wondering what he’d done to deserve such a great father boss.

What didn’t go away as quickly were, as Luigi called them, the psychological effects.

He was still constantly disoriented and brain-fogged. More than once he woke up screaming. At one point he even started to hallucinate Dimentio standing over him when he woke up; a couple of medication adjustments and that was mostly fixed, but it was still terrifying, and he still saw the jester sometimes out of the corner of his eye. Another blow to his fractured psyche.

After one nightmare, he was convinced that Dimentio wasn’t really dead, and was coming for revenge, and Bowser had to sit with him for hours before he calmed down. After another, he woke up terrified that he was turning back into Super Dimentio. All he remembered of that… was being chained. Trapped. Unable to do anything.

_Add it to the pile, why don’t you? It’s not like that hasn’t happened before. You can manage it._

_Probably._


	26. If You Thought The Head Trauma Was Bad...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luigi's in a painting, but someone else is also with him.
> 
> He has to protect them, at any cost.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay i decided multiverse theory was REAL! there's a new character in this chapter that is intended to be added to the main story at some point in the future. alternate versions of mario HOORAY!
> 
> i'm really tired so i'll just throw this at ya and go to bed ENJOY

Luigi slumped to the floor, exhausted, as King Boo finally finished his most recent round of torture. Except this time, the game had changed.

There was someone else held captive with him. Another version of Mario, who he’d recently rescued from another timeline and nicknamed Mali. Luigi had found him in a cell, far too thin and unable to talk. So many awful things had already happened to him; he did not deserve more.

Unfortunately, King Boo seemed to be hellbent on harming him in some way. Luigi could not let that happen. Whenever he got the slightest bad feeling about anything, saw any flash of movement, he’d use his magic to create a shield around Mali, protecting him from any Boos that might try to attack him. Which resulted in him having to just lie there and take any attacks towards him, as all his energy was focused on the shield.

Today, he was even more tired than usual.

The other Mario rushed over to his side, making attempts at speech that came out mostly as garbled noises, before lifting his hands to frantically sign, _“Luigi, are you okay?”_ in a way that he had to repeat the motion more slowly before Luigi could understand.

“I’m fine, Mali,” Luigi groaned, tucking his hands under his head. “Just need a rest.”

He’d been needing more and more rests lately. There was no opportunity for real recuperation, as you could not sleep in paintings. And his energy was depleting more and more as time went on; it could never get back up to full strength, because there was no time for it to do so. Several times he’d caught a Boo sneaking up on Mali while he was resting. He could never relax.

He dreaded the moment where his magic would fail, because it was going to happen soon. He prayed that Mario would care enough – if not about him, then about his alternate self – to intervene, quickly.

The next time King Boo came to ‘visit’, Luigi already had the shield up, but he knew deep down that it would not last. It held firm when the first blow to his body came. It shook on the second, and completely shattered on the third.

“MALI!” Luigi screamed as King Boo laughed, and flew straight over.

He was going to hurt him.

_He was going to hurt his brother._

Luigi was up and sprinting towards them before he even knew what he was doing. Tiny garbled sounds were coming out of his new brother’s mouth as King Boo hovered over him.

“After all the pain he went through to protect you from me, here we are,” he gloated, and his crown started to glow brighter-

Luigi put everything he had into one last burst of green magic-

King Boo shot across the roof, then turned back with a snarl on his face and something purple in his appendage that was swinging towards him-

Pain flashed across the left side of his face, and the world jolted.

Someone was shaking him.

“Uh?” Luigi said, trying to get up, but his limbs seemed locked in place. “Can’t move,” he told the person, helpfully.

Flashes of movement. Someone was moving their hands.

_Sign language. Mali._

“Mali, that you?” he mumbled.

Another flash. He couldn’t fully see the movement. Actually, he couldn’t fully see anything. Half of his vision was just… gone. “Can’t see on the left,” he said, and Mali immediately shifted his position.

_“King Boo seemed scared. He is gone now.”_

“Scared,” echoed Luigi. “King Boo, scared. Yep, I’m dreaming.”

Mali’s face dropped, and he leaned forward to lightly pinch Luigi’s hand. _“Not dreaming,”_ he signed. _“King Boo did something to your face. You are bleeding badly. Your right eye looks ruined.”_

\----

Luigi didn’t fully take into account the implications of those words until he was out of the painting and in a hospital.

Mario had, indeed, come to rescue them. Professor Gadd hadn’t actually given him a Poltergust, so he’d basically just hopped through the small house they’d been kept in, snatched the painting and left. Luigi vaguely remembered seeing him look at his face, absolutely horrified.

Now, the doctors were telling him that he might never see out of that eye again if the treatment didn’t work, and reality was beginning to set in, chasing away the delirium of magical exhaustion.

He screamed and screamed and thrashed around, inadvertently making it so difficult for the doctors to administer the treatment that he had to be sedated. When he woke up, he had a pounding headache, but the vision in his eye was back… somewhat.

“We gave you a Mushroom,” one of the doctors explained. “Your eye was still there, so the healing magic was able to work, but… can you describe your vision to me?”

“Left side is blurry, right side is normal,” Luigi said.

“That’s a side effect,” she said. “Your vision… unfortunately, it will likely never fully return. The damage was too great to be fully healed.”

She started talking about glasses and contact lenses. Luigi just felt numb.

Everyone was going to be supportive, he knew that already, but…

Why couldn’t he just have healed properly?

Grambi, he hated his body and its stupid selective healing so much.

_~~Of course you would. It’s another reason why you’re a freak.~~ _


	27. Ok, Who Had Natural Disasters On Their 2020 Bingo Card?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Did you know it's a bad idea to leave humans outside during a blizzard? Because King Boo doesn't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> feat. KB being a moron, fucking up torture once again and nearly killing Luigi

“I w-wish King Boo w-would check the weather f-forecast b-before leaving me outside,” Luigi groaned, arms wrapped around himself as white flakes started to land in his hair.

On that particular day, King Boo had been in a bad mood for some reason or another, and he’d decided to take it out on the most accessible enemy; Luigi, still locked in his mansion.

Luigi had been left outside for the night, chained to the wall securely to prevent him from running away. When his teeth started chattering, he realised it was starting to get a little bit too cold. He’d figured King Boo wasn’t the type to check weather forecasts, anyway.

The clouds above him were thick and dark – well they would be, considering it was the middle of the night. He’d tried to sleep, but the sound of his own teeth chattering and the feeling of the cold ground on his skin made that impossible.

Anyway. There was a blizzard coming, unless he was wrong. And he really hoped he was wrong. Death might well be a better option, but he didn’t want to die like this. Then again, it’d be really satisfying to wake up as a ghost and witness King Boo realising that he’d fucked up again, badly.

Luigi’s dark hair was being painted white now. The snowflakes were falling in earnest, and Boo Woods was already a very, very cold place. Wind was also lashing across his face, sometimes even shoving him backwards into the wall and only serving to make the temperature colder.

He couldn’t do much except watch, so watch he did. Luigi watched the flakes fall onto the ground and melt away, slowly cooling the ground until the snow began to settle. He watched the snow come down harder, snow levels making their way up his bare feet to his ankle. Dimly, he recognised that he should probably shake the snow out of his hair, otherwise he was going to get a cold.

Ah, he couldn’t be bothered. White hair wasn’t all that bad.

The cold was, though. It got so cold that it might as well have been fire, for all he knew or cared. It bit into him, stinging, creeping down his lungs and slowly forcing his body temperature to inch down.

Luigi was sitting cross-legged, so the snow was up to his knees now. He would have tried to stand, but the chains around his neck and upper body didn’t even allow that. And they weren’t going anywhere; Boo chains were bizarre, and he’d tried escaping already. Hopefully someone in the mansion would remember that humans die if they’re too cold.

His fingers started to tingle after a while. Then they went completely numb. Luigi knew why this was happening; his body temperature was getting too low, so the blood circulation to his extremities way being cut off to favour the most important organs. If he stayed out here for much longer he could get frostbite. Or hypothermia, whichever was faster. Probably both.

Legs and hands… were starting to feel frozen. There was some light coming from the mansion, so he was just able to see himself, and some of the trees, and the snow. He was also able to see his limbs starting to turn blue.

Frostbite. That was frostbite.

Luigi dragged himself over to the nearest window, ignoring the cold burns and chafing chains, and pounded as hard as he could. “Please… lemme in,” he pleaded weakly, slurring his words. “I’m gonna die. Too cold.”

But nobody came, and he was starting to feel sleepy.

Maybe he’ll try that sleeping thing again.

He lay down on the ground, and this time, sleep took him as he stared at the snow-covered trees.

“They’re beautiful like this,” he mumbled, and his head slumped into the snow.

\----

King Boo came to check on his victim only a few minutes later.

“Having fun out here, Luigi- oh. Oh shit.”

Later, he found himself dictating a note to his scribe Boo in large letters that he could somewhat understand, and pin it to the wall.

“Note to self: Do not leave humans outside in blizzards if you want them to live. It’s very bad for their health.”

It was probably worrying that the first thing Luigi said when he woke up was, “Goddamnit, I lived.”

_Ah well. You weren’t exactly trying to protect his mental state, were you?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> KB during Luigi's Mansion games: calculating, cold, plans out every word he says until he's defeated somehow
> 
> KB every other time: has no idea what he's doing because he hasn't meticulously planned it. ends up seriously harming people by accident, eats all food that isn't bread within a 5 mile radius


	28. Such Wow. Many Normal. Very Oops.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luigi just got his brother back. If he lost him again... 
> 
> he'd happily kill whoever responsible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> angry morally grey Luigi time is a GO! and i think i really need to remind you guys that this is an alternate universe. i'm pretty sure that canon luigi would never do the things that my luigi does in this chapter, or at least wouldn't go as far. but this luigi? he's been through things. things that have shaped the way he thinks about the world and the people he cares about. and he'd go far for them. bad things have happened to him, and in the right circumstances... he could definitely return the favour.
> 
> feat. people robbing people. people shooting people. be careful kids!

Mario and Luigi had planned to meet up at a small café in Toad City today.

Luigi had arrived first, as per usual. He’d quickly claimed one of the two-seater sofa tables since it wasn’t that busy, fished his phone out of his pocket, and started playing chess while waiting for his brother to arrive.

Mario was about ten minutes late, and Luigi had been getting slightly worried. He was about to turn off the game and ring his brother when the café door opened and Mario rushed in, breathing far too quickly.

Luigi waved. Mario spotted him almost instantly, made his way over, and collapsed into the empty seat, gasping for breath. A few heads turned their direction, but Luigi gave them a thumbs-up and they turned away. He was fairly sure one of them was posting the encounter to social media, and resorted to having reporters show up at the door before they left.

Mario was still coughing, so he let his brother rest for a minute before he spoke. “I was starting to think you wouldn’t show up.”

“Are you kidding me?” Mario wheezed. “You think I’d miss spending time with my best brother?”

“I’m your _only_ brother.”

“Yeah, but…” Mario faltered. “Still! I would never miss… whatever this is!”

Luigi snickered. “How’ve you been, bro?”

“Eh, kinda bored,” Mario said, stretching in his seat. “Nothing’s been going on recently. No worlds to save. No weird conference events to go to. I mean, those are boring, but doing nothing is boring too.”

“Doing nothing is nice sometimes,” Luigi replied. “Not having the literal weight of the world on your shoulders. Not having to know that if you screw up, the apocalypse is going to show up and wreck everyone’s day.”

Mario shrugged. “Is a sporting event tame enough for you?”

“Sure.”

“We should organise one.”

“What, now?” Luigi laughed.

“Sure, now,” Mario said, grinning at him. “What sport?”

“I’m thinking… go-karting?” Luigi pondered. “Or maybe-”

“Mario Kart it is then!” Mario cheered, pulling out his phone and noting it down. “Expect a tournament soon. And I’m also fully expecting Bowser to show up, too.”

“If you want him to be there, give it a couple weeks at least, he needs time to prepare.” Luigi explained. “Also, you’re incredibly self-centred.”

“I think we all knew that,” Mario chortled, miming tossing his hair.

Luigi sighed. “What do you want?”

Mario blinked. “Oh my Grambi, I completely forgot we were at a café for a reason. Um…” he scanned the menu. “I’ll have a hot chocolate with marshmallows and a sausage roll.”

Luigi, after some thought, opted for the same order. Mario laughed at that, exclaiming that, “We really are twins!”

The two of them ate in companiable silence, and Luigi was actually enjoying himself when the door swung open so hard it crashed into the wall.

“EVERYBODY ON THE GROUND!” someone yelled, barging in and shoving one of the other customers to the floor. Luigi immediately dropped, tugging on Mario’s leg and pulling him down too.

“What are you doing?” Mario hissed. “We can take him!”

“Wait a second!” Luigi whispered back. He watched as the robber strode over to the cashier, who looked like he was about to have a panic attack, and pulled out a gun.

Yep, this was what he’d been afraid of.

“We can’t just go in there fire blazing, Mario, he’ll shoot someone!” Luigi hissed at his brother.

“What do we do, then?”

“I’m working on it…”

_Maybe you could form a shield under his hand and knock the gun out of it? It’s a long way away, though…_

“STOP FUCKING TALKING!” the robber yelled, clicking off the safety and firing a warning shot at the ground…

in the exact wrong place for it to be a warning.

Time slowed down as Luigi watched the bullet go straight through his brother’s head.

Mario looked surprised for a second, and then his body fell to the ground

and Luigi _screamed._

_“MARIOOOO!”_

The glass in the windows shattered with the force of his agony. Even the robber dropped the gun in shock when they realised what they’d done.

Luigi grabbed his brother’s arm, put two shaking fingers to his wrist.

Nothing. There was just nothing there.

He looked up at the robber.

 _“YOU,”_ he growled, getting to his feet.

The robber took a step back. “I-I didn’t mean to- to kill anyone, I swear-”

“I just got him back,” Luigi said. “I just got my brother back, and you KILLED HIM.”

“I- didn’t mean to…”

“I’ll KILL YOU!” Luigi screeched, launching himself at the guy, who was too stunned to even pick up their gun.

Hands glowing green, Luigi punched them in the face, then in the stomach, sending them flying back into the wall. The other customers were screaming in horror, and one had crawled over to Mario, his _dead brother,_ and was phoning for an ambulance.

Luigi kicked the guy in the chest, once, twice, until he heard something snap in their ribcage, and his face twisted in delight. He used one of his shields to lift the guy’s gun off the floor and move it to his hand.

Safety was off.

_Good._

“Please- please, I don’t wanna die,” the guy tried begging as he lifted the gun, aiming it carefully at their heart.

_You’re going to get in so much trouble if you do this. But who cares? They DESERVE IT._

Luigi smiled. “Should have thought of that before you came in here waving this thing around,” he said.

And pulled the trigger.


	29. I Think I Need A Doctor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luigi probably should have just stayed home when he started coughing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please don't call me out on my lack of medical knowledge. i can't ask my mum about everything so i'm doing my best ok. also i know how that summary sounds and NO luigi does not have covid-19
> 
> same for koopa naming knowledge. i mean they seem to have pretty human-sounding names.
> 
> HURT LUIGI HOURS, ENJOY!

Luigi’s head hurt. That wasn’t really surprising, considering he’d just been at a meeting with representatives from all sorts of kingdoms. Heck, there was even a Boo from Boo Kingdom there, who he’d caught side-eyeing him on multiple occasions.

He often had headaches, anyway, and he wasn’t feeling 100% today. He’d been coughing a lot, which had made his chest hurt, and he’d been really shivery too. Normally they served lunch at the meetings, but he hadn’t felt like eating that day, so he’d declined. He’d felt too foggy to contribute much, so spent most of the session writing notes.

“Eh, everyone has their off days,” Luigi thought out loud as he made his way back towards the Warp Pipe that would take him to the castle. Normally, someone would take him there and back, but the weather today was perfect for a stroll. It wasn’t that far, an hour and a half’s walk at most, and the landscape was really beautiful this time of year.

So he’d walked there, attended the meeting while trying to stay clear of other people – didn’t want to give them his little cold, after all – and started walking back.

There hadn’t been a cloud in the sky when he started walking, so when the clouds gathered above him and burst open, pouring their tears to the ground, he knew something was wrong.

_Go faster. You need to get home. This is not natural._

Obviously, weather could be temperamental; but neither the Koopa nor Mushroom kingdoms had that characteristic. So could you really blame Luigi for starting to jog a little?

One particular part of the ground was extremely slippery, and Luigi’s left foot shot out from under him, unbalancing him and causing him to crash straight to the ground, his ankle cushioning his knee but not itself.

Luigi hissed in pain, then brought his leg up to examine it. In between the spider-web cracks left from the First Mansion, he could see that the ankle was bending at an odd angle, and was severely swollen.

He grabbed onto a tree branch, hoisted himself up, and tried to put weight on the foot.

“SHIT!” Luigi screamed as a burning shock raced up his leg. He could feel the bone trying to pierce through his skin, and quickly gave that endeavour up.

So now he was sitting on the floor, in the rain. He hadn’t brought a raincoat, just some small flimsy thing that was barely covering him. He was quickly getting soaked – and he was starting to feel worse, too. It was harder to breathe.

_What do I do? I’m supposed to call someone. Who do I call?_

Call someone. Call someone. Who?

His throat tickled, and he coughed into his hand. Something splattered onto it, and he brought his hand up to his face.

“Liquid,” Luigi mumbled. “Red. Smells weird. It’s blood.”

_That’s probably bad. Call someone._

“WHO?” Luigi screamed up at the sky. He could not, for the life of him, remember who he was supposed to call.

He grabbed his phone, fumbling on the unlock code, before going to his recent calls. Maybe one of those was the person he was supposed to call.

Bowser.

Luigi recognised the name, and something went off in his head.

_Bowser will know what to do. I can trust him._

Luigi hit the call button, and hardly two rings had gone by before a strangled, “Luigi? Are you okay?” came through the phone.

“It’s raining,” Luigi said.

“Yeah, I can see that. You were supposed to be walking home, do I need to send someone to pick you up?” He sounded worried, but Luigi got the feeling that that was just how he lived.

“I think so,” Luigi slurred. “My… my ankle looks weird. I feel weird. I just coughed up this red… blood. I’m cold. Can you come pick me up?”

He wasn’t conscious long enough to hear the answer, or to hear Bowser frantically shouting Luigi’s name when he didn’t respond.

\----

Luigi was conscious, in the sense that he could feel things. He could hear things. He didn’t open his eyes, but he caught snippets of things. He faded in and out of sensing constantly.

“…lucky you all found him when you did…”

Something was beeping. He wished it would stop.

“…severe pneumonia… must have picked it up recently, the weather couldn’t have helped…”

There was something stuck down his throat. He tried to cough, but he couldn’t.

“…no way that weather was natural. We need to find out what caused it. Everything was predicting a sunny day, and then it suddenly starts raining _just_ in the area where Luigi was walking…”

“…can’t be a coincidence…”

Then his eyes were open, and holy shit it was way too bright.

“Get rid of the beeping,” he said as soon as he was awake.

Someone laughed. “Hurting you are they? We can’t turn off the heart monitor, sadly, but we can give you ear defenders. Would you like that?”

“Yes,” Luigi mumbled. Then someone came into view, and something was being fitted over his ears. “Better. Can it be darker, too?”

The lights dimmed almost instantly. “Sure,” the same person said. “You really gave us a scare, Luigi. You had severe pneumonia, made worse by the rain. Why didn’t you tell anyone?”

“Thought it was a cold.”

“Precisely why the culture of allowing people to continue with their lives when ill is ridiculous,” muttered another, higher-pitched voice. He recognised these people now. Koopa doctors from the hospital, Maria and Clive. They probably saw him too much.

“Hurts,” he said, instead of saying that.

“Where?” asked Clive.

“Ankle, chest,” Luigi groaned. “Hurts to talk, gonna stop now.”

“Give him some sedatives,” Maria said to Clive. “Gotta be a pain to be conscious while intubated. Surprised he hasn't vomited.”

Luigi laughed for a minute, but it made his chest hurt, so he stopped.

Then nothing hurt at all for a while.

It was nice.

He wished it could stay like this forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fact of the day: i painted my nails and completely fucked it up lol


	30. Now Where Did That Come From?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luigi gets hurt, and should probably tell someone. 
> 
> Spoilers: He doesn't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> remember how i posted at a reasonable time yesterday? well that's dead. also shanarhager, the cyboonatural fic is a trip and a half. if you guys like this garbage you should go check it out it's much better. ok ENJOY

Luigi had done it.

Yet again, he’d rescued his brother from King Boo.

After a gruelling fight featuring a paranormal dimension, the return of the spiked balls, and a long corridor with lightning bolts, randomly opening drawers and various other obstacles, Luigi had been able to suck the sadistic King into his Poltergust _without_ him immediately escaping.

He hadn’t gotten out unscathed, though.

Carrying his brother’s painting and King Boo’s crown gem, Luigi was pulled out of the Paranormal Dimension and returned to his own. He wasted no time before turning the Dark Light Device towards Mario.

Professor Gadd pixelated himself into the area just as Mario emerged from the painting and fell flat on his face. Luigi couldn’t help a giggle as Mario jumped up, looking around frantically.

“Luigi!” Mario actually looked… happy to see him, for a moment. Then it was gone again. “Um. Luigi. You’re here.”

“I am,” Luigi said flatly, trying not to wince. Something in his stomach hurt. A lot. Maybe if he just ignored it, the pain would go away.

He barely heard Gadd’s hearty, “Well done, my boy!” over the feeling.

The Toads were pixelating in, too, holding pieces of the broken Dark Moon. One was carrying far too many, and Luigi rushed forward and grabbed one from him. He and the Toads gathered in a circle, and the six pieces lifted from their arms, reformed into the Dark Moon, and floated back into the sky where it belonged.

Now the ghosts were apparently benign again, Gadd pressed a button on a controller, and the ghosts were released from the containment unit – thankfully not the Boos. They flew around, picking up Mario, Gadd, and some of the Toads in celebration.

“Please don’t tell me you can do that for the Boos, too,” Luigi groaned.

Gadd had the decency to look slightly guilty.

So did the Polterpup, who came up to him looking utterly ashamed. Luigi smiled, and reached down to pet him. “I don’t blame you, buddy,” he said gently.

The pup woofed, then jumped into his arms and licked him. “Okay, I’m keeping you,” Luigi giggled, holding the dog in his arms even as it strained his wound. At least the intangible dog couldn’t make it any worse.

The ghosts apparently wanted to take a picture, so everyone smiled for the camera, including Luigi, who hoped it wouldn’t pick up on the strain. The pain was starting to get worse.

_It hurts… so much…_

_NO, IT DOESN’T!_

Luigi just grinned and bore it, even as Mario tapped him on the shoulder and whispered a desperately guilty-sounding, “Thank you.”

Luigi gave him a thumbs-up. It was starting to hurt to speak. He hoped there were no bloodstains.

As soon as he was pixelated back to the mansion, he dashed to the mirror and checked himself for injuries. He swore when he saw the state of his stomach; something, probably one of the spiked balls, had lacerated it badly, tearing it from the middle to the left side. King Boo really had a thing for hurting the left side of his body, huh.

The blood had soaked through his trousers and shirt, but fortunately their dark colouring made it difficult for anyone to see it. The laceration was bad though, really bad. His magic was covering it in a green sheen, making the blood loss slower, but even so Luigi still felt faint.

He rushed straight to the Warp Pipe outside the mansion that would take him to Bowser’s castle. Stumbling, almost tripping down, it whirled him straight there, spitting him out just in front of the gates. The guards let him pass immediately, knowing he was safe.

Luigi was barely coherent on the way up to Bowser’s room, relying on his feet to know which way to go. He shoved the door open, registering that yes, Bowser was in the room.

“I smell blood on you,” Bowser said immediately. For most people this would be a slightly weird thing to say, but Bowser was Bowser. “You’re not okay. We’re going to the hospital right now.”

_Why didn’t we warp to the hospital again?_

Bowser was running towards him.

Luigi felt warm arms around him before his world went black.


	31. Today's Special: Torture

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luigi's punishment isn't over yet, because nearly dying of sepsis apparently isn't enough for King Boo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy hallowe'en/samhain/holidays/anything else! luigi really needs an apology for this one, so i am so, SO SORRY LUIGI. 
> 
> continuation of the storyline started in chapter 1 and continued in 20 and 21. now enjoy the torture :)

Considering that Luigi had just almost _died_ , one would have thought that he would get at least a small break from the torture. One would also be wrong.

Sure, the chains had been left off, but that was no substitute for real freedom; the thing that he’d been seeking, the thing that’d got him in that situation in the first place. The bright lure of freedom, the light at the end of the tunnel, was starting to look like just another oncoming train.

There was no way to escape, unless he waited for the right moment and got inconceivably lucky; but staying where he was… that was hardly an option either. At least if he kept trying to escape he’d know that he was doing his best, not just rolling over and submitting to the torture. But there weren’t many opportunities.

Luigi had explored every inch of the room now that he was off the chains, and had found it to have almost no weaknesses. There was one tiny vent in the corner of the room which he could barely fit a leg through if he managed to open it, let alone his whole body, and it was fastened shut anyway.

The pole that he’d been chained to still stood to one side, always there, menacing, a reminder of what might come if he failed to escape again. Luigi shivered every time he looked at it, and tried to keep his back to that corner whenever possible.

But something was coming. The Boos that brought him food started to get more giggly, more excited. They kept stealing glances at him, then looking away, laughing and whispering to each other. Luigi interpreted this as his punishment for the escape attempt still being ongoing, because of _course_ almost dying of sepsis wasn’t enough for King Boo.

Nothing happened for a few days, but this only served to increase his paranoia. Now he just spent time staring at the door, waiting for it to open, or maybe for someone to float through. He flinched every time he saw a Boo. The Boos, of course, thought that terribly amusing.

He’d heard somewhere that the anticipation was the worst part. He didn’t know the context, but he agreed 100%, to the point that he was almost glad when someone came through the door.

The someone was King Boo, of course. “Sorry I’ve been so long,” he said, not sounding sorry at all. “I’m sure you understand.”

He was grinning, and Luigi understood at once. The King had probably been watching, and enjoying the anticipation, enjoying his fear. Did he have cameras in the room, or was he just invisible?

Apparently he looked even more paranoid now, because King Boo laughed, and floated over to trail an appendage through his hair. “Oh, that’s adorable. But I don’t have all day.” His grip tightened, and Luigi yelped as he was pulled up by the hair onto his feet. “Follow,” King Boo ordered.

Luigi’s face twisted, but he followed, because he knew what the King would do if he didn’t.

He was led through the corridors and into a large hall. Luigi’s stomach dropped as he saw hundreds upon hundreds of Boos, chattering to each other, clearly waiting for something. They all fell silent as soon as they entered the room, all of their beady eyes trained on him.

Glowing ropes abruptly lashed him to a pole in the middle of the room. Some of the Boos jeered, but most remained silent. They normally never passed up an opportunity to heckle him, and Luigi started fearing that they were expecting something even worse to happen to him.

King Boo never even addressed the crowd, but there were some claps and yells, so he must have done something. Probably spoke to them beforehand.

_Here’s Luigi, about to be needlessly tortured again, how wonderful for you!_

“When you first woke up here, I’m sure you were wondering why half your clothes were missing,” King Boo said, and there were a few giggles from the crowd.

“Could be lots of reasons,” Luigi snapped. “I didn’t dwell on it. You’re going to do what you’re going to do, so just do it and leave me alone again.”

“Alright,” King Boo said. “How about this, then?”

Something glowing purple was dangled in front of his face. It looked like a string to Luigi’s eyes, and he squinted. The string-thing separated out at the ends into other strings and oh, god, the fear was hitting Luigi like a truck.

He knew what that was. It was a whip, and not just any whip, but a cat o’ nine tails. And with King Boo’s powers, he could make the experience much worse.

“Old-fashioned,” was all he said, trying to look as calm as possible.

“I am from 1796,” King Boo said, taking it away and presumably bringing it back to his hand. “I remembered that quite recently, having been locked away in your basement for so long. They used to use it on the enslaved people who disobeyed them, at our farm. Tried to make me use it once. I made such a fuss that they never tried again.” He sounded bitter.

“Changed your mind, then?” Luigi spat.

“The enslaved didn’t lock me in a basement for two years,” King Boo snarled, and the whip lashed into his back.

Luigi didn’t want to scream even as the fire rolled across his back, so he counted the strikes in his mind to keep him grounded, keep himself from doing anything embarrassing. Ten strikes at first. Then a short pause, and if Luigi thought it had been fire before, it was an inferno now.

He lost count as time went on. Some of the strikes were electrified, and some were burning hot. Even the ordinary strikes were still so painful, and soon he couldn’t hold back anymore.

He screamed, and screamed, for so long that he forgot he was doing it. The pain was the only thing he knew. Dimly, he understood that the Boos watching were probably taunting him, or something, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. He was hurting. Everything was hurting. Yet more scars were being added to his back, to join the fifty-one left there after the kidnapping before this one.

Then it stopped. There was still so much pain, but so much less. He was aware now. He could hear the Boos cheering, taunting him, but he’d take that any day over more pain.

King Boo had finished with him, but he was still grinning, and Luigi felt no less terror.

The King turned to his crowd, held the whip out, and said, “Trust me, children, this is far from over. So, who wants the next turn?”

Luigi screamed.


	32. Reunited

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luigi finally gets rescued, and everyone gets a good night's sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you thought it was over, huh? INCORRECT. Like Cyboonatural, I have come out with some SURPRISE FLUFF! i intended to post this on november 1st, but hey, better late than never!
> 
> ending to the storyline set up in chapters 9, 11, 16 and 24. enjoy!

Every time the door opened, there was pain.

Luigi had learned to fear the creak of the hinges, the way it scraped across the floor, always revealing King Boo, internalised that he would be taken somewhere, tortured, and brought back to where he started.

So when thudding footsteps and frantic shouts preceded the opening, and the door revealed his family instead of his worst enemy, he almost didn’t know what to think.

Bowser was standing in the doorway, smiling at him, but it was Princess Peach who entered the room first. She extended her hand to Luigi, who almost felt bad about grabbing it; he was sure he was disgusting to look at, let alone touch.

He could hardly believe it as he was led out of the mansion, clutching Mario’s bloody hat to his chest. Was this some kind of trick? The sunlight was blinding, too bright to be real, surely.

Someone was talking, but he couldn’t quite hear them. “Hurts,” he said, hoping they would understand.

“What hurts, Luigi?”

“The sun.”

Someone turned to talk to Someone Else and soon enough a pair of sunglasses were being pressed into his hand. He jammed them on and wow, it was a lot easier to hear things now that the sun wasn’t melting his eyes off.

“…and we were finally able to rescue you.” Bowser said. Wait, they’d been talking to him?

“I’m sorry, I didn’t… hear anything,” Luigi said, curling in on himself.

_This is ridiculous. They’re not going to hurt you._

Peach reached for his shoulder, and he immediately backtracked, tripping over himself to get away. She looked shocked, and then he couldn’t see her anymore, because Bowser had stepped towards him, and had then sat down on the ground.

Neither of them said anything for a minute, then, “Do you want to hear about the battle?”

“Didn’t we just-”

Bowser turned his head back towards Peach. “Yeah, we did. But maybe he wants to hear it again?”

A sudden sense of relief flooded over Luigi. With Bowser’s auditory processing issues, of course he understood. It felt good to be understood. “That’d be nice,” he said.

Bowser grinned and started talking about how they’d regrouped and joined forces with other kingdoms in order to bring down the Boos, how they’d worked with Professor Gadd to make them sturdier so the Boos couldn’t break them as easily. How some of their own Boos had managed to infiltrate the ranks of the Boo kingdom and bring them news of their tactics and plans… and their prisoner.

“So we knew you were alive, but we also knew you were being hurt,” Bowser said.

“And that’s why we had to keep fighting for you,” Peach finished.

Luigi grinned at them. At some point Bowser had picked him up, and they’d continued walking back together. He found he didn’t mind at all. “You are the best.”

Peach laughed, and then they let Bowser launch back into the proper battle, telling them of the zero casualties due to the Boos’ confusion at how they knew all their tactics, and finally having sucked the Boo King himself into a vacuum and promptly dumped him in a containment unit, at which point Luigi let out a huge sigh of relief.

The best thing about the whole conversation was that neither of them pressed him about what he’d been through. Yeah, it was important to talk about, and he was certain that Bowser would make a therapist’s appointment for him immediately when they got home, but that was fine. He just… didn’t want to talk about it right now.

The sunlight was even brighter when they finally got out of Boo Woods, but his eyes had mostly adjusted by then. “Where are we?” Luigi asked.

“We’re near the Warp Pipe to my castle,” Peach replied. “Oh, I should warn you; there’s someone there who… you might not be expecting to be around.”

Luigi gave them both a questioning look, and Bowser sighed.

“Ah, fu- frick it,” he amended, glancing over at Peach guiltily. “King Boo told you Mario was dead, right?”

“Yes,” Luigi said, surprised, “how did you know?”

“I think Mario wants to tell you that himself,” Bowser said.

Luigi couldn’t find words. He just stammered incoherently as the trio hopped into the Warp Pipe.

Mario was… alive?

Of course. Of course King Boo had lied to him. Why was he even surprised? King Boo wanted to see him hurt. Why would he care if he had to lie to get that?

_Let’s be angry at that asshole later. You have your brother back._

Luigi was tackled the moment he exited the Warp Pipe. For a moment he panicked, but when Bowser didn’t do anything, he figured it must be safe.

And it was.

“LUIGI!” Mario yelled, hugging him so tightly Luigi thought he was going to explode.

“M-mario?” Luigi said hesitantly, then cried, “MARIO!” with tears streaming down his face. “King Boo told me he’d killed you, that he’d taken over the Mushroom Kingdom-”

“Yeah, he told me he was going to tell you that, don’t worry, he didn’t do either of those things, just laughed at us,” Mario said. “Then he took my hat. Hey, you’ve got it.”

“I… I couldn’t let it go,” Luigi tried to explain. Mario just smiled at him, and he realised that maybe he didn’t need to. He did hand it back to him, though, and laughed as Mario moaned about all the blood King Boo had gotten on it, and that he most certainly would have to get a new one.

Unfortunately, Mario wasn’t the only one waiting near the castle. He could see a whole crowd of cheering Toads and humans no more than a hundred metres away.

“Everyone’s waiting to welcome you back,” Bowser interjected. “Are you ready for that?”

Luigi shook his head immediately.

“Want to go back to the castle?”

“Y-yes…”

Bowser turned to Peach. “You okay with the crowds? I need to take care of my s- Luigi.”

Peach nodded. “I can handle it,” she said. “As long as Mario doesn’t stay away for too long.”

Luigi managed to extricate himself from Mario’s grip. He looked slightly wounded, and Luigi sighed. “Mario, wanna come with?”

“Uh… sure? If Bowser’s okay with that, obviously.”

“Sure I am,” Bowser said easily, and the three of them turned to jump back down the Warp Pipe after saying a quick goodbye to Peach.

\----

Luigi wasn’t quite ready to talk. He found when he got back to the castle that he didn’t really want to listen either. He wanted… to sleep, in a bed, for the first time in months.

The trio trudged up the stairs to Luigi’s room, and Bowser even dragged an extra bed for Mario out of some storage closet. Mario had protested initially, saying he could, “sleep on the floor or something,” but fell asleep almost as soon as he lay down.

Bowser laughed, then made his way over to Luigi, falling into serious mode. “Hey. You know, whenever you want to talk about it, I’m always ready. To talk or to make you a therapist’s appointment, whichever of the two.”

“I know. Thanks, Dad,” Luigi said sleepily, and was soon off as fast as Mario.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to take the time to thank everyone who read this. Everyone who left kudos. Everyone on Tumblr who's been reading this. I'd like to give really special thanks to those who commented: KomaruNaegi, ASoaringDaydream, Claireanela, DeckofDragons, and last but especially not least, special special thanks to ShanaRHager (if you liked this you'll like their stories too), and to all of my friends on Discord who I rambled about this to, especially Jemstone15, Potato, and Dio. You all have given me so much support and inspired me to keep going even on the hardest days. I appreciate you so much, thank you all for being here. Go forth and write the best whump. Or fluff, whichever you prefer.
> 
> btw: story's not over! i update Ego intermittently. try to aim for once a week, but with a-levels that's kinda shot. i'm never giving up on it though. my tumblr is @itsreganingrain if you want updates! i might even post art of KB and yeah the others too i guess
> 
> TL;DR: thank you to everyone who supported me, and i promise i'm not gonna disappear. i might even be back next whumptober if you guys are lucky... bye for now, though!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [31 Days of Comfort](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27815428) by [ShanaRHager](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShanaRHager/pseuds/ShanaRHager)




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